The offseason has been a busy one for Kelly Hunter. Since the Huskers fell in the 2024 Final Four, the Nebraska volleyball assistant coach received a new name, a new boss and new responsibilities. However, she’s taking the same approach to helping the team find success heading into 2025.
In January, Hunter married former Nebraska football player AJ Natter. The name plate change on her office came as a shock for one player in particular — freshman opposite hitter Ryan Hunter.
“Ryan and her family, they joke that we’re cousins, and so actually, the other day, when Ryan first came up to our office in two-a-days, it now says Coach Natter, and she just went up to my door and was like, ‘No!’” Hunter — now Natter — said. “She’s spoken about it too, their family has a lot of pride in who they are and being a family, and I think they accepted me as part of their family, and so she was a little sad to see that go, but it’s been funny.”
Natter spent five seasons as a player and six as a coach under Cook. She was a graduate assistant for two years and a volunteer coach for another before joining the staff as a full-time assistant following the 2021 season. After spending 11 of the past 12 years under Cook, the adjustment to working for Dani Busboom Kelly has been a big one.
“It’s so much the same, but so much different at the same time,” Natter said. “I think the values and what the type of teams they wanted to have are really similar, and they just kind of go about it two different ways. So for me, it’s really cool to see a different perspective, because I’ve only ever worked at Nebraska for John Cook. So seeing someone who’s equally as successful do it a little bit differently is a really cool perspective for me, and I just feel like I get the great opportunity of learning more about these different styles and more about myself without having to move myself and my family across the country. And I feel really, really grateful for that.”
Making the transition easier was their shared history as Busboom Kelly was on staff as an assistant during Hunter’s first four seasons as a player. To Natter, her new head coach hasn’t changed a bit from those days.
“To me, she feels the exact same, and I think that’s a good thing, because she’s a very authentic, genuine person, and a straight shooter for sure,” Natter said. “I haven’t really noticed anything too different, because I think even 10 years ago or however long ago it was that I played for her, she feels like the same person to me. I think that’s a great quality, and I think she obviously is very confident and just very strong in who she is, and I think that’s an amazing quality.”
When Busboom Kelly arrived, she retained both of Cook’s assistants in Natter and Jaylen Reyes and promoted former graduate assistant Brennan Hagar to full-time interim assistant rather than bringing in her own coaches. The new work dynamics took some feeling out, but Natter said Busboom Kelly has encouraged the assistants to take ownership in everything they do.
“I think at first, she kind of would just explain to us, ‘I want everyone’s opinion; we’re all going to plan practice together and truly, really collaborate,’” Natter said. “The first couple pre-practice meetings, she was like, ‘OK, what do you guys think we should do today?’, and we were just trying to feel her out while she was also asking for our opinion. I think now, after the whole spring season and the summer and a lot of travel together recruiting and things like that, we understand what that collaboration truly looks like. Every day it’s maybe someone different is speaking in a meeting and stuff like that, and it’s really collaborative.”
With the transition came new coaching responsibilities. Reyes works directly with the pin hitters while Hagar instructs the middle blockers. Natter previously worked closely with the setters, but Busboom Kelly prefers to be hands on with that position, which led to Natter sliding over to lead the liberos and defensive specialists. Going from setter instruction to focusing on passing has been a big change for her.
“I feel like the two skills are very opposite … It’s been an adjustment, but Dani has been great, and anytime there’s setters broken out, her and I are both over there,” Natter said. “It’s not like I can’t talk to them anymore, and there’s a really good feeling in the gym of everyone can coach everyone, and then once we get to games, maybe it’s a little bit more, ‘here’s your position, offense, defense.’ But it’s been an adjustment, and it’s different for me watching different things.
“Obviously, I was a setter, and I love the art of offense and decision making and you really don’t have that as much for your liberos. It’s a lot more just defense and reading. I like the creative parts of it, and we try and talk a lot about that, rather than just, ‘Are we passing with this exact technique, and are you in the exact right spot?’ We talk about reading and things like that, and that makes it really enjoyable, I think, for all of us.”
Busboom Kelly appreciates the way Natter has embraced the new challenge, which has allowed her natural coaching ability to shine through.
“Kelly’s been awesome,” Busboom Kelly said. “She wasn’t a libero, she didn’t play that position, but she knows volleyball, she has a great way of communicating, so it’s not surprising that she was able to just make that transition and it feels like she’s been a libero coach her whole life. It’s more with the way she communicates and giving these liberos some confidence and a voice and the attention they need every single practice.”
While the offseason has been one of change for Natter and the Huskers, the adjustment period is nearly over. Next Friday, the matches begin with the First Serve Showcase.
