Relationship-builder Kelly Hunter knows what it takes to be national champ

For Kelly Hunter, it’s all about relationships.

The recently promoted Nebraska volleyball assistant coach has always seen the value in building relationships and has had a knack for the skill.

Of all her memories as a Husker, winning two national championships in 2015 and 2017 is something she will always cherish, but one of her favorite moments was off the court.

During her senior season, the starting setter and her teammates dressed up as a member of the coaching staff for Halloween. The grid of volleyball season is intense in November and December so the team always tried to do something fun on Halloween, Hunter said.

“I dress up as Coach (John) Cook and when I walked out of the locker room and seeing his face, it was the hardest I’ve ever seen him laugh,” Hunter said.

Hunter said she put baby powder in a wig to make it look a little gray and got some clothes from the equipment person that Cook were typically wear.

“That’s one thing I always look back on and love to think about because it didn’t really have to do with volleyball and winning and that aspect, but it was more of a fun time and something we can all look back on and remember,” she said.

Now, Hunter is an assistant coach after being a graduate assistant at Nebraska (2019), an interim assistant coach for the first half of 2020 and a volunteer assistant for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Cook had an opportunity to get to know Hunter as a player and as a leader in several positions.

“We have seen over and over again how special Kelly is, and she has stepped up to the challenge of every role she has had in our program,” he said in a news release. “Kelly is a great relationship builder, and she has the trust of our players. She bleeds Husker red, and she has earned this opportunity.”

Hunter said she was meeting with Cook for her end-of-the-year review when he called and said the meeting had now turned into an interview for the open assistant position with Athletic Director Trev Alberts.

Associate Head Coach Tyler Hildebrand took the head coaching position for Long Beach State’s women’s volleyball team. Assistant coach Jaylen Reyes was promoted to the lead assistant after five seasons and Hunter was promoted from a volunteer assistant.

The two-time AVCA All-American said she, Cook and Reyes haven’t discussed the specifics of their duties. However, Hunter said she will be working with the setters along with Cook. Reyes has experience with coaching middle blockers and defense. And Hunter said Cook gravitates toward the outside hitters, passing and setters.

“Everyone’s got a good knowledge about a lot of different positions,” Hunter said.

While each person on the staff has a wide variety of skills, Hunter said one of the qualities unique to her that she brings to the staff is that she is a “relationship-oriented person.”

“The thing I really like about teams is how the whole can be better than the sum of the parts,” the Papillion, Neb. native said. “That’s what I know best is teamwork and leadership and just relationship building on and off the court.

“That’s an intangible thing that can take good teams even further and can help those teams who maybe don’t have as much talent go further than they should.”

Hunter said her insight into the setter position is one of her strengths but her “greatest strength is the leadership, team building, team dynamic area.”

Cook agreed that is one of Hunter’s greatest strengths.

“She is one of the best leaders I’ve ever been around, and she knows what it takes to be a national champion, which only benefits our student-athletes,” Cook said.

Hunter, the 2017 Big Ten Setter of the Year, is among good company on Cook’s coaching tree. Dani Busboom Kelly played and was an assistant coach at Nebraska and lead Louisville to the program’s first No. 1 seed and Final Four appearance in 2021.

Craig Skinner won the 2020 National Championship at Kentucky. Other former Husker assistant coaches have head coaching positions: Chris Tamas at Illinois, Kayla Banwarth at Mississippi and now Hildebrand.

Many successful coaches sat in Hunter’s position, however, she said she doesn’t feel much outside pressure. She feels grateful for the opportunity to learn from Cook.

“My biggest source of pressure right now is just from Coach Cook on the daily,” Hunter said. Every time we walk into his office, he’s like, “What’s up? How are we getting better today?” That would be the biggest source of pressure. Instead of those outside expectations, and he’s holding us to a really high standard, so it’s always good every day.”

As a former Nebraska volleyball player, setter and national champion, Hunter is able to connect to the current Huskers on a different level. She said not only is she coaching at the same program she played for but also the same coach.

“I know Coach Cook really well from a player’s standpoint and a coaching standpoint,” Hunter said. “I can help the girls relate to him and vice versa, him relate to the girls and just help them both see each other’s side on certain things. That’s really unique and it’s really beneficial just having played for Coach Cook and now being on the coaching side with him.”

One player that Hunter relates to is setter Kennedi Orr, who has an opportunity to be Nebraska’s starting setter in 2022. Orr tore her ACL during her final season of high school volleyball in the fall of 2022 and did most of her rehab at Nebraska. Hunter said because Orr had to work back from that injury, they spent time together and became “really close.”

“In some ways, we had a similar path too, if she starts this year,” Hunter said. “We’ve had a similar path to that because I played a little bit my freshman year, and then redshirted my second year, and then had three years to start from there. And for her same thing, she played a little bit this year, and she has the opportunity to start.”

Being a “relationship-oriented person” and having been recruited by Cook also helps Hunter relate to players she’ll be recruiting.

During her two seasons as a volunteer assistant coach, Hunter studied Cook but also Hildebrand and Reyes and their coaching styles. Outside of observing how much time they put into preparing for opponents and their constant strive to learn, Hunter learned about how they cultivate relationships with the players and tries to replicate that.

“Seeing the way they coach and interact with girls and the way it’s like you have to coach the individual versus coaching everyone the exact same,” she said. “They both do a really good job of getting to know our athletes as humans and not just volleyball players. That only makes coaching them easier because you have that relationship on the back end.”