Ranking Nebraska's Best Coaches (All Sports)

Who is Nebrska's All-Time Best Coach?

  • Total voters
    85
Mavric

Mavric

Yoda
Staff member
How would you rank Nebraska's best coaches across all sports?

Bob Devaney - 2 National Championships, 8 Conference Championships

Tom Osborne - 3 National, 13 Conference

Terry Pettit - 1 National, 21 Conference

John Cook - 4 National, 13 Conference

Bill Straub - 12 National 

Gary Pepin - 3 National, 72 Conference

Rhonda Ravelle - 7 Conference

Francis Allen - 8 National

Other?

My take: Ranking coaches from different sports and eras is a crazy but fun task. You have to consider degree of difficulty, consistency, longevity, etc. Being quotable is a bonus. Kidding.

For instance, Bill Straub has won 12 national titles in bowling — 10 with the women’s team. But how does that compare to recruiting a team to beat Miami or Oklahoma in football? Francis Allen in gymastics. Rhonda Ravelle in softball. Gary Pepin’s track dynasty.

So many greats have come through Lincoln. It’s all apples and oranges but what a tasty treat.

Here’s what I know: Bob Devaney, Tom Osborne and Cook are on the list. Pepin would be my fourth, but some would find that debatable. The first three are not.

Why Cook? Sure, the national titles and final fours. But he also took something great, something historic, and made it better, more historic. Volleyball is a revenue producer. It’s the No. 2 sport at NU and arguably in the state. On Cook’s watch.
Click to expand...


OWH

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I think Dave Van Horn should be included in the list.  While he didn't have the longevity as other coaches, getting NU to the CWS has shown to be a miracle.  He (and Childress) was able to recruit and develop studs during his time at NU.

 
Osborne 

Devaney 

Cook

Football played teams with as much or more talent and won using a system developed to overcome those disadvantages. Our volleyball team is stacked with the best talent in the country and top athletes transfer in to play here.   Cook is the man and his record speaks for itself though  

 
Mavric said:
How would you rank Nebraska's best coaches across all sports?

Bob Devaney - 2 National Championships, 8 Conference Championships

Tom Osborne - 3 National, 13 Conference

Terry Pittit - 1 National, 21 Conference

John Cook - 4 National, 13 Conference

Bill Straub - 12 National 

Gary Pepin - 3 National, 72 Conference

Rhonda Ravelle - 7 Conference

Francis Allen - 8 National

Other?
Click to expand...


My take: Ranking coaches from different sports and eras is a crazy but fun task. You have to consider degree of difficulty, consistency, longevity, etc. Being quotable is a bonus. Kidding.

For instance, Bill Straub has won 12 national titles in bowling — 10 with the women’s team. But how does that compare to recruiting a team to beat Miami or Oklahoma in football? Francis Allen in gymastics. Rhonda Ravelle in softball. Gary Pepin’s track dynasty.

So many greats have come through Lincoln. It’s all apples and oranges but what a tasty treat. 

Here’s what I know: Bob Devaney, Tom Osborne and Cook are on the list. Pepin would be my fourth, but some would find that debatable. The first three are not.

  

Why Cook? Sure, the national titles and final fours. But he also took something great, something historic, and made it better, more historic. Volleyball is a revenue producer. It’s the No. 2 sport at NU and arguably in the state. On Cook’s watch.

OWH
Click to expand...








Here's what I'll say about Cook vs. Pettit.  You can't make a bad choice here.  I think Cook deserves every ounce of praise he gets, and likely deserves a statue when he retires. I'll start the funding campaign for it.

But Pettit did something Cook has never done. Never had to do, because Pettit already did it.  Terry Pettit created a national powerhouse out of thin air. When he came to Nebraska in 1977 there was barely a varsity volleyball program. Prior to 1975, Nebraska didn't even sanction women's sports.  Pat Sullivan was our first Volleyball coach, and created the program out of what was basically a club, going 81-23 in her two seasons.  When Pettit took over in 1977, he quickly realized that he had next to no recruiting base in his own state. So Pettit not only trained his own team, he went around the state training high school coaches how to teach volleyball.

And he did it again the next year. And the year after that.  And the year after that.  He basically taught the state of Nebraska the sport of Volleyball. You can go to Chadron, Norfolk, Tecumseh, watch Class A, Class C1, Class D2 matches in this state and you'll see kids who know the sport, many of whom have legitimate aspirations of playing D1 volleyball in college.  The Club scene in this state is crazy, and regularly produces top talent that competes & wins on a national level.  That's entirely because Pettit created the knowledge of the sport, the passion, over decades. 

I mean, Cook's record & winning percentage, conference titles & national championships speak for themselves. I wouldn't trade Cook for anyone - maybe not even Pettit in his prime. Cook may be the best volleyball coach of all time.

But that's the only reason you wouldn't put Pettit in there. Above Devaney. Above Pepin. Above Osborne.

Also, little addendum to that - the kids that go through these programs are students first.  And every kid that went through Pettit's program in the 1970s earned a degree while she played. You put four years into Pettit's program, you graduated.  Also, every kid from the 1980s. And the 1990s. In fact, every kid who's ever gone through this program, ever, has earned a degree.

No other sport can boast a 100% graduation rate. That continues with Cook, but it started with Pettit. 

 
Has anyone ever won more NCs at Nebraska than Cook?  While running a program that is nationally respected not just in winning, but how they conduct themselves too.

That answers your question on whose on top.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
What Cook has done and continues to do is amazing. I'm curious to see who replaces him. His coaching tree is great in it's own right.

 
List is invalid. No Danny Nee  :lol:

Seriously though, you can't rank these in relation to each other. They are all great coaches and there are varying reasons why. Some built something from nothing, others took great programs and made them even better and yet others have just been excellent coaches. I think they need to be ranked 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D probably before we even get to a number 2.

 
knapplc said:
Here's what I'll say about Cook vs. Pettit.  You can't make a bad choice here.  I think Cook deserves every ounce of praise he gets, and likely deserves a statue when he retires. I'll start the funding campaign for it.

But Pettit did something Cook has never done. Never had to do, because Pettit already did it.  Terry Pettit created a national powerhouse out of thin air. When he came to Nebraska in 1977 there was barely a varsity volleyball program. Prior to 1975, Nebraska didn't even sanction women's sports.  Pat Sullivan was our first Volleyball coach, and created the program out of what was basically a club, going 81-23 in her two seasons.  When Pettit took over in 1977, he quickly realized that he had next to no recruiting base in his own state. So Pettit not only trained his own team, he went around the state training high school coaches how to teach volleyball.

And he did it again the next year. And the year after that.  And the year after that.  He basically taught the state of Nebraska the sport of Volleyball. You can go to Chadron, Norfolk, Tecumseh, watch Class A, Class C1, Class D2 matches in this state and you'll see kids who know the sport, many of whom have legitimate aspirations of playing D1 volleyball in college.  The Club scene in this state is crazy, and regularly produces top talent that competes & wins on a national level.  That's entirely because Pettit created the knowledge of the sport, the passion, over decades. 

I mean, Cook's record & winning percentage, conference titles & national championships speak for themselves. I wouldn't trade Cook for anyone - maybe not even Pettit in his prime. Cook may be the best volleyball coach of all time.

But that's the only reason you wouldn't put Pettit in there. Above Devaney. Above Pepin. Above Osborne.

Also, little addendum to that - the kids that go through these programs are students first.  And every kid that went through Pettit's program in the 1970s earned a degree while she played. You put four years into Pettit's program, you graduated.  Also, every kid from the 1980s. And the 1990s. In fact, every kid who's ever gone through this program, ever, has earned a degree.

No other sport can boast a 100% graduation rate. That continues with Cook, but it started with Pettit. 
Click to expand...


+1 for the Tecumseh props - they may even know how to play in Cook

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I think if a fan is being honest with themselves, you have to go with either Devaney or Pettit.  They built something.  Cook and Osborne are similar, but they are both behind the top 2 because they inherited a power house and didn't let the wheels fall off.   

 
junior4949 said:
I think if a fan is being honest with themselves, you have to go with either Devaney or Pettit.  They built something.  Cook and Osborne are similar, but they are both behind the top 2 because they inherited a power house and didn't let the wheels fall off.   
Click to expand...


Agree. And that's not a slight to their successors. They'd probably vote Devaney & Pettit, too. 

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top