Hildebrand Kept Nebraska 'In His Soul'

As John Cook tells the story, Tyler Hildebrand first fell in love with Nebraska volleyball in 2006, when Hildebrand attended the NCAA Final Four in Omaha, where his girlfriend, Kristin Richards, was playing for Stanford as a senior outside hitter.
 
The Cardinal fell to Nebraska, 3-1, in the national championship match.
 
"And that was a great Stanford team," said Cook, the Nebraska head coach. "I'm not sure we had any business beating them, but we beat them."
 
The Huskers won over Hildebrand, too.
 
After the match, he told Kristin that someday, he would coach at Nebraska.
 
"True story," Cook said. "Something started then with his connection to Nebraska."
 
That, of course, really came to fruition in 2017, when Hildebrand joined the Nebraska staff as an assistant coach. What transpired is what both Hildebrand and Cook described as a "magical" season, when an under-the-radar Husker team unexpectedly won a national championship.
 
What's more, Cook maintains that he's never had more fun or felt more recharged, more innovative or more challenged as a coach than he did that season. A seasoned veteran in the coaching ranks felt he grew, and he largely credits Hildebrand.
 
That coaching relationship was short-lived. Hildebrand had a dream opportunity to become USA Volleyball's director of coaching for its beach national teams, and he took the position after only one season with the Huskers.
 
Hildebrand may have left Nebraska, but Nebraska never really left him.
 
"I just think it got in his soul a little bit, in his heart," Cook said.
 
So when Nebraska assistant Kayla Banwarth landed the head coaching position at Mississippi, Cook began pursuing Hildebrand, who had still returned to Nebraska the last two falls and served as a consultant for Cook in his spare time.
 
Hildebrand said yes.
 
"This USA thing was a big deal for him," Cook said. "But now that he's done that, I think what's so great about this is he now knows what he wants. He knows where he wants to be."
 
Not only is Hildebrand returning to the Nebraska coaching staff, as Cook announced Monday, but he's also assuming a title only one other person in the history of the program has held – associate head coach.
 
Cook said Hildebrand deserved an opportunity to be more than a regular assistant, and that such a title could entice him to leave a job he holds dear.
 
"There's going to be responsibility that comes with that and more expectations," Cook said. "But he needs to feel that. He needs to have that responsibility, that pressure and expectation.
 
"I'm pretty fired up about it. It makes me feel like I can really challenge him in maybe other ways and give him some responsibilities more than beyond a young assistant coach."
 
The only other associate head coach of Nebraska volleyball became the program's head coach. That, of course, was Cook himself, who held the title under Terry Pettit, only the program's second coach.
 
Is that a sign Hildebrand may someday replace Cook, 63, who just completed his 20th season with Nebraska?
 
"I don't know when I'm retiring, but I don't make that decision (about the next coach)," Cook said. "I don't think it's in my job description. That will be the athletic director's decision what happens there."
 
Cook offered no timeline on his coaching future.
 
"I take it day by day," he said. "I love coaching right now and am fired up."


 
Much like Cook was in 2017 in his first season with Hildebrand. He learned to get out of his comfort zone and be open to learning.
 
"He'd be in here every day showing me videos, showing me stats, and we would hash it out and make a decision,' Cook said. "The good thing was he was not afraid to challenge me. He's very confident in how he sees the game. That's why I think we have this great dynamic working together. Sometimes what he likes we do, and sometimes I make the final decision. But it's a really, really healthy relationship."
 
It's one Hildebrand is eager to rekindle.
 
"I'm so happy to get to have more time to learn from Coach Cook. One year wasn't nearly enough," said Hildebrand, noting the 2017 national championship season left "a burning impression" on him and Kristin, now his wife.
 
"He pushes me to be a better coach, and I can't say that about many people. I truly miss the challenge of coaching at Nebraska, and I look forward to learning even more from him and I am incredibly grateful to him for this opportunity. I'm always trying to live up to coach's expectations, always trying to prove to him what I can do. The best I have coached in my career, I believe, was in 2017, and I owe a lot of that to Coach Cook."
 
Hildebrand and Cook both commended Nebraska Athletic Director Bill Moos for his support and guidance in bringing Hildebrand back to Lincoln.
 
"Bill Moos was 100 percent supportive and on board, 'John, whatever we've got to do to help you, we're going to do,' " Cook said. "That's one of the great things about Nebraska. We teach people to dream big here, but you've got to have the support to be able to do it."
 
Cook said Hildebrand's return will help assistants Jaylen Reyes and Kelly Hunter "blossom" around him, and said the trio already has a great chemistry. Hunter was the setter on the 2017 team with Hildebrand.
 
Reyes, who returns for his third season, will become recruiting coordinator, and Hunter, who served as a graduate assistant last season, will become a full time interim until August, when Hildebrand arrives. Hunter will then remain with the program as a volunteer assistant.
 
Hildebrand will coach USA in the Tokyo Olympics through Aug. 9 and begin coaching with Nebraska on the first day of fall practice – on Aug. 10.
 
"As a coach, it's the greatest sporting event in the world," Cook said of the Olympics. "The experience he's going to get between now and then and the pressure they're going to have to try to medal in the men's and women's for beach volleyball will only help him as a coach and develop skills to come here and help us."
 
Reach Brian at brosenthal@huskers.com or follow him on Twitter @GBRosenthal.