Dani Bushboom Kelly opens up about 'adjusting' to culture as head coach of Nebraska Volleyball team

Dani Bushboom Kelly opened up about adjusting to Nebraska Volleyball's culture months after stepping into the role of head coach of the program. After leading the Louisville Cardinals as a head coach since 2017, she joined the Huskers program in January 2025.

Bushboom Kelly replaced the former coach, John Cook, who was associated with the program for around 25 years. In her time at the Cardinals, she led the team to two final showdown appearances at the NCAA Championships in 2022 and 2024, three national semifinal appearances, and four ACC Championships.

During an interview on I-80 Club, Bushboom Kelly stated that she was initially impressed by how smoothly things ran in Nebraska. She also drew a parallel between Louisville and Nebraska programs, stating she was surprised by how great the program was.

"Our staff in Nebraska is pretty great and the way you know I want the practice to flow and the way I want it run is just seamless because the staff is really well prepared," she said. "I think the culture of the team and this might be a surprise I don't really know what I would call it but the culture here is really great and the team is super tight and I've just been really impressed with I guess their vibe as a team and I didn't really know what to expect.

"When you come from a program you've built and obviously I think really highly of the team at Louisville and I'm like 'Oh nobody's going to have it as good as we had it at Louisville.' Well then you get here and I'm like 'Oh wow This is really good too.'"

Dani Bushboom Kelly lauds former Nebraska Volleyball player Lexi Rodriguez on winning the 2025 AAU James E. Sullivan Award

Dani Busboom Kelly of the Louisville Cardinals during the Division I Women's Volleyball in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo via Getty Images)

Nebraska Volleyball's head coach Dani Bushboom Kelly lauded the former Husker Lexi Rodriguez as the latter won the 2025 AAU James E. Sullivan Award. Rodriguez became the first Husker to be honored with the prestigious award. The coach shared a picture of the announcement on her Instagram story and wrote:

"First Husker to ever win this award! Congrats to Lexi!"

Screenshot of Dani Bushboom Kelly's Instagram story.

Rodriguez joined the elite list of athletes, including Michael Phelps, Carl Lewis, Joyner-Kersee, Caitlyn Clark, and Simone Biles, by earning the honor.