Hildebrand Kept Nebraska 'In His Soul'

Scott Bruhn/Nebraska Communications

As John Cook tells the story, Tyler Hildebrand first fell in love with Nebraska volleyball in 2006, when Hildebrand attended the NCAA Final Four in Omaha, where his girlfriend, Kristin Richards, was playing for Stanford as a senior outside hitter.

The Cardinal fell to Nebraska, 3-1, in the national championship match.

"And that was a great Stanford team," Cook said. "I'm not sure we had any business beating them, but we beat them."

The Huskers won over Hildebrand, too.

After the match, he told Kristin that someday, he would coach at Nebraska.

"True story," Cook said. "Something started then with his connection to Nebraska."

That, of course, really came to…