"I knew that would be the toughest"- Coach John Cook opens up about breaking news about retirement to Harper Murray and Nebraska Volleyball players

Coach John Cook opened up about breaking the news of his retirement to players of the Nebraska Volleyball team in his final press interview. The former NCAA Championship-winning coach shared that he chose to break the news to Harper Murray first, recognizing that this would be the toughest task for him.

Cook led the Nebraska Volleyball women's team in the NCAA Championships for 25 years and emerged as the most successful Division 1 coach in the program's history. During the course of his tenure, he led the team to four National Championship title wins, 14 conference titles at Nebraska, and 12 NCAA semi-final appearances.

In his final press conference, Cook shared how he broke the news to the team. The American coach said that the players wanted to meet him as soon as he broke the news to them. This led him to wonder whether they would speak about entering the transfer portal.

"I called in Harper first because I knew that would be the toughest. She was very emotional, so once I got through that it was a lot more easier to go with the team because I knew that would be the tough one. They all responded really well but again it was tough," he said.

"I just pretended I was giving them the pre-game pre-talk that's what I told myself and we did it and again I was so pumped up and they're first reaction was, 'We're going to meet'. When they went to meet, I didn't know what they were going to talk about I'm like, 'Wow, they all going to start talking about going on the portal or what?'" he added.

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John Cook on his decision to retire as the head coach of Nebraska Volleyball

In Picture: Nebraska Volleyball's John Cook speaks during Volleyball Day in Nebraska - Source: Getty

John Cook spoke about his decision to retire after leading the Nebraska Volleyball team for 25 years. The three-time National coach of the year shared that he had always tried to put forward his best effort every time he stepped on the court.

Furthermore, he aimed to coach until he felt he had accomplished all his goals and achieved a sense of fulfillment.

"Like I said, haven't been through this before, but I've always approached that I was going to be going as hard as I could, and when the day came and I felt like I have done enough and that's what happened last week," he said.

Additionally, John Cook wanted to spend time with his family. Having missed a lot of time with his children due to professional commitments, Cook expressed that he wanted to be there for them.