Photo Credit: BYU Athletics
Nebraska Volleyball Hires Jaylen Reyes as New Assistant
By Brandon Vogel
Nebraska volleyball coach John Cook has gone back to the men's game to find his newest assistant coach as the Huskers announced the hire of Jaylen Reyes, previously an assistant at BYU.
Reyes replaces Tyler Hidlebrand, who announced his departure last month to become the Director of Coaching with USA Volleyball's beach program. Hildebrand joined the Huskers last year after serving as an assistant with the Long Beach State men's program, which faced Reyes' BYU squad in the NCAA Tournament semifinal last spring. Like Hildebrand in 2017, Reyes will finish the season with BYU's men's program. The Courgars are currently ranked second in the AVCA rankings.
"With Tyler leaving for USA Beach Volleyball, we had to find someone who could step in and replace what he did for Nebraska volleyball, and we had a big challenge," Cook said. "My first call was to one of my closest advisors in the volleyball world, and he told me about a young coach and rising star, Jaylen Reyes. Jaylen's team knocked Tyler's Long Beach State team out of the final four last year, so I decided to start with that accomplishment. After interviewing all of our candidates and putting them through an extensive interview process, Jaylen separated himself from the others."
Reyes was a libero for BYU from 2012 to 2015, ranking second in career digs at the end of his career. He stepped right into an assistant-coaching role following his playing career and led the Cougars efforts in player development while serving as the recruiting coordinator. A native of Hawaii, Reyes' father, Tino, was the head women's coach at the University of Hawaii at Hilo.
"Jaylen is a second-generation coach. His dad, Tino, coached for years, so Jaylen has grown up in a gym. He was hired to coach at BYU a few days after completing his playing career. Coaching volleyball is in his DNA. We wanted someone who was willing to crawl here just like Andy Dufresne in the movie, 'The Shawshank Redemption.' Our players and the Husker Nation will love his energy, passion and ability to teach the game."
"I would like to thank Coach Cook for this amazing opportunity to be a part of the Nebraska volleyball family," Reyes said. "I look at this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with Coach Cook, Kayla (Banwarth), Lindsay (Peterson) and the rest of the support staff at Nebraska. I'm extremely honored and humbled to be able to join the Husker family and help continue the success of this storied program, and to get to work with some amazing young athletes along the way.
"Growing up as a lifelong volleyball fan, I've always appreciated and even idolized Coach Cook. Getting to know him these past couple weeks, I can see the type of leadership qualities and attention to detail it takes to be as successful as he has been. I'm excited to head out to Lincoln after our season at BYU is finished and get to work at the Devaney Center, which I have heard is home to the best fans in college volleyball.­­"
Nebraska's beach volleyball team is in Hawaii this weekend for the Hawaii Invitational. The Huskers will play six matches over two days, facing No. 3 USC, No. 5 Hawaii and No. 12 Grand Canyon twice each.
Brandon Vogel
Brandon is the Managing Editor for Hail Varsity and has covered Nebraska athletics for the magazine and web since 2012, Hail Varsity's first season on the scene. His sports writing has also been featured by Fox Sports, The Guardian and CBS Sports.
Tags: John Cook, nebraska, Volleyball