Mavric Posted December 13, 2018 Share Posted December 13, 2018 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? Quote 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 Quote Link to comment
Cdog923 Posted December 13, 2018 Share Posted December 13, 2018 Cook Osborne Devaney Allen Pepin Straub Quote Link to comment
Day by Day Posted December 13, 2018 Share Posted December 13, 2018 Cook Osborne Frost jk on Frost (or at lease for now...) Quote Link to comment
Toe Posted December 13, 2018 Share Posted December 13, 2018 Where's the Bob Diaco option? 2 3 Quote Link to comment
ColoradoHusk Posted December 13, 2018 Share Posted December 13, 2018 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. Quote Link to comment
swmohusker Posted December 13, 2018 Share Posted December 13, 2018 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 Quote Link to comment
knapplc Posted December 13, 2018 Share Posted December 13, 2018 1 hour ago, 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? 1 hour ago, Mavric said: 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 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. 5 1 Quote Link to comment
BigRedBuster Posted December 13, 2018 Share Posted December 13, 2018 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. Quote Link to comment
hskrfan4life Posted December 13, 2018 Share Posted December 13, 2018 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. Quote Link to comment
knapplc Posted December 13, 2018 Share Posted December 13, 2018 23 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said: 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. Definitely. Francis Allen won eight national championships, including five straight from 1979-1983. His bio is pretty impressive. 1 Quote Link to comment
JJ Husker Posted December 13, 2018 Share Posted December 13, 2018 List is invalid. No Danny Nee 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. 1 Quote Link to comment
GBRFAN Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 3 hours ago, 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. +1 for the Tecumseh props - they may even know how to play in Cook Quote Link to comment
Jason Sitoke Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 I voted Other. Hell of a coach. Shows up on every list 2 2 Quote Link to comment
junior4949 Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 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. Quote Link to comment
Guy Chamberlin Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 42 minutes ago, 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. Agree. And that's not a slight to their successors. They'd probably vote Devaney & Pettit, too. Quote Link to comment
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