Jordan Larson

Thanks for posting. She is one Nebraska's All Timers. The last I knew, she was one of  a handful of million dollar pro players. I don't know how much longer she'll play on the Team USA and professionally, but the fact that she is Captain on Team USA leads me to wonder if coaching is in her future. Cook is 62 and probably has several years left coaching the Huskers, but how cool would it be if, when she retired from playing, she came on board as an assistant with the possibility of taking over when Cook retires. 

 
Undertow said:
Thanks for posting. She is one Nebraska's All Timers. The last I knew, she was one of  a handful of million dollar pro players. I don't know how much longer she'll play on the Team USA and professionally, but the fact that she is Captain on Team USA leads me to wonder if coaching is in her future. Cook is 62 and probably has several years left coaching the Huskers, but how cool would it be if, when she retired from playing, she came on board as an assistant with the possibility of taking over when Cook retires. 
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As long as she proves her coaching chops are in order, I'm down with this. 

 
Undertow said:
Thanks for posting. She is one Nebraska's All Timers. The last I knew, she was one of  a handful of million dollar pro players. I don't know how much longer she'll play on the Team USA and professionally, but the fact that she is Captain on Team USA leads me to wonder if coaching is in her future. Cook is 62 and probably has several years left coaching the Huskers, but how cool would it be if, when she retired from playing, she came on board as an assistant with the possibility of taking over when Cook retires.  
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Cook has a pretty well-established coaching tree to choose a successor from. Skinner at Kentucky, Tamas at Illinois, Bussboom-Kelly at Louisville, CJ at Iowa State (sorta), we've got Kayla Banwarth already on staff, plus all the assistants that have left before and who could have head coaching roles before Cook's done.  Jordan may go into coaching and - who knows? - may come here & succeed Cook, but she'll have to compete with plenty of folks to get the job.

 
knapplc said:
Cook has a pretty well-established coaching tree to choose a successor from. Skinner at Kentucky, Tamas at Illinois, Bussboom-Kelly at Louisville, CJ at Iowa State (sorta), we've got Kayla Banwarth already on staff, plus all the assistants that have left before and who could have head coaching roles before Cook's done.  Jordan may go into coaching and - who knows? - may come here & succeed Cook, but she'll have to compete with plenty of folks to get the job.
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Agreed that Cook will have a multitude of former assistants to select from and it wouldn't surprise me if the Nebraska Volleyball Head Job isn't approaching a million a year in the not to distant future making it more desirable and competitive. And while she may be a great leader, who knows if Larson can coach a lick. She already has made an impact on the 2021 recruiting class by her appearance and speech at an Nebraska all star volleyball camp this past summer. Both Rylee Gray and Ally Batenhorst mentioned the event (and Larson's talk specifically) as having an influence on their eventual decision to commit to the Huskers. Larson probably has a higher volleyball Q factor than most on Cook's coaching tree, particularly for young teen girls playing high level club volleyball. 

 
knapplc said:
Cook has a pretty well-established coaching tree to choose a successor from. Skinner at Kentucky, Tamas at Illinois, Bussboom-Kelly at Louisville, CJ at Iowa State (sorta), we've got Kayla Banwarth already on staff, plus all the assistants that have left before and who could have head coaching roles before Cook's done.  Jordan may go into coaching and - who knows? - may come here & succeed Cook, but she'll have to compete with plenty of folks to get the job.
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I think Hildebrand would make a great HC here also.  He was one assistant i hated to see leave. 

 
Stumpy1 said:
I think Hildebrand would make a great HC here also.  He was one assistant i hated to see leave. 
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Same, but he was only here for a year. I wonder what his future holds, and if that's a Nebraska future.

He expressed great surprise at the pace of this program. The days are full, the planning meticulous, and the going was much more of a slog than he ever anticipated. Maybe he got a taste for that and would return, maybe he's glad of his time and is OK moving on. Haven't heard him speak on the matter since January.

I do know that he returned for a visit about a month ago, so he's keeping in touch.

 
knapplc said:
Same, but he was only here for a year. I wonder what his future holds, and if that's a Nebraska future.

He expressed great surprise at the pace of this program. The days are full, the planning meticulous, and the going was much more of a slog than he ever anticipated. Maybe he got a taste for that and would return, maybe he's glad of his time and is OK moving on. Haven't heard him speak on the matter since January.

I do know that he returned for a visit about a month ago, so he's keeping in touch.
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The last part has me giddy to be honest.  A costumer of mine has great ties to the program and it sounded like he was very well liked by players and all. 

 
Stumpy1 said:
The last part has me giddy to be honest.  A costumer of mine has great ties to the program and it sounded like he was very well liked by players and all. 
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Definitely. He's a good dude. And his wife, Kristin (Richards) Hildebrand is not only good people, too, but a heck of a bonus VB coach in her own right. She as a bit of experience. :D

 
Stumpy1 said:
I think Hildebrand would make a great HC here also.  He was one assistant i hated to see leave. 
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That was one headline I didn't want to see last spring. I was hoping he would stay for 2 to 3 years at least.  

I didn't know if he (Hildebrand) burned any bridges leaving after only one year, but the fact he was back for the Ameritas Challenge indicates that everything is copacetic. John Baylor did an interview with him (during the Wake match I think) and while nothing groundbreaking was said, it was a friendly encounter. Ty did indicate that Lauren Stivrins would make a helluva beach volleyball player. 

I'm a thousand miles away from the program, but everything I've heard about the guy has been positive. Lauren Cook and Baylor are effusive in their praise of him (not so much the new guy). Hildebrand was largely responsible for getting Annika Albrecht to that next level as the 2nd outside hitter. Once everything clicked for Albrecht during the UCLA series last year, the entire team took a jump up in performance (still not sure how they lost to Northern Iowa). 

I don't how much he makes in his current position in USA beach volleyball (supervisor of coaches and players?). And I don't know if a seven figure salary would be enough to bring him back to the midwest long term. But from all appearances, he would be a good get. 

 
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