1-on-1 with DP – 93.7 The Ticket KNTK - Nebraska Men's Tennis Coach Peter Kobelt: July 30th, 12:00pm

Episode Date: July 30, 2025

Nebraska Men's Tennis Coach Peter KobeltAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's time to go one-on-one with D.P. Coming at you live from the heart of Lincoln America, a 93-7-the-ticket and the ticketfm.com. Here is your host, Derek Pearson, brought you by Canopy Street Market. Now that I have your attention, I can get in your face. In your face, I said.

Wednesday, live. Sports talk one-on-one. B. Bock running the board, keeping the mothership moving. Appreciate you hanging out with me for this hour. We got a pretty special hour. Again, rules of the game.

We honor the Gump family rules. One-on-one you're never quite sure what you're going to get. We could go down a rabbit hole. We could end up in football talk. We could end up in tennis talk. We could end up in marketing and life goals and

missions and relationships. Who knows? it's a good one. The Sartor-Hamond Text Line 402, 464, 6, 4, 6, 8-5. You want to be a part of what we're doing. Hit me with the what's up. And I will bring you into the show. Great cause to do so. You can follow on all the streams, Facebook, YouTube, X, Allo Channel 961. You can follow, and you should follow us on social media. You should also download the ticket app so that you can take us wherever you go. We will be. Simple biz, if you will. Amazon Prime, if you're fancy.

In full. Often, you get to bring in folks who have insight and insider access to Husker programs and sports in general. And in order to do that, you have to reach out. Go to the source. Like, I could speculate. Or I can bring in somebody who actually knows. let's bring in Husker head coach

from men's tennis, Peter Cobalt. Brother, how you doing, man? D.P. I see you got your tennis shoes on today. Sir! Sir! You guys want to know what shows happening today? Just look at D.P.'s shoes. Hey, man.

No, I'm working. These are getting the work. Good. These are getting the world. I love these. Nice. I love these. Coach came through.

Came through. Vak, once again, you have to tell Coach, where size shoes you wear. Because, you know, know, I, I, I don't often remember those things. Bach, what's that shoes do you wear? 11 and a half. So you're doable because 11 and a half is still in the range of, of, of normal humans.

Normal humans. Us big foot. What, Pete, what's that? You got me. I got 13s. See, I, these 14s make a tough shot. Yeah. It just, you know, but you came through.

Hey. Coach came through. And listen, my wife is very grateful. She's very grateful. She's like, yay. We have another ally. We have a shoe ally. This is the good stuff.

And these are spectacularly. What's the difference in these and the others? Because you said these are the actual tennis. Well, yeah, the other ones would just be like normal joggers or walking around shoes. They could say running shoes, but you'd want to just run in a straight line. Tennis shoes are more side to side and for comfort, you know, the dirt, you know, running around, slide and moving. So my bounce. Yeah, bouncing, banging on the court and stuff like that.

So those will treat you well. This is, I mean, again, and I've got, you know, I've got pens and needles and all these screw plates. I got plates and all the toes. And at the base of these, I have abused these dogs of mine, coach. I have abused them. So whatever love we can get by putting shoes on.

And here's the thing and why I'm in love with these. Actually, these and the red stripe or the red blur ones, is that when I wear them for, you know, often I'll come here and I'll be here back and forth for 14 hours in a day. And today my feet don't hurt. That was the, listen. Let's go. That was, I'm forever indebted.

I'm forever indebted. Let's go. For not having sore feet greatly appreciated. You have, your young men are out here in the streets putting in tennis work, man. I see a post and wait a minute, you got guys winning matches, important matches on the the road like this is the time of year where they get to they get to grow as well yeah absolutely what's going on with you guys let them know what the huskers are doing and yeah so uh i just created the group chat for the team this year just before the show started but um yeah the guys are starting

to find their way back to lincoln we had a tournament uh here in town last week partnered with uh with utr um and we were able to have uh two of our guys come back and i was able to watch them play which was great. And yeah, just kind of wrapping up some of the summer things. There's a big tournament for the junior tennis world coming up, Kalamazoo, which is the biggest boys national tournament here in the States. So that's a cool and fun recruiting opportunity for all the coaches in college tennis, not just us at Nebraska. But yeah, before you know it, school's going to be starting. Yeah, we're going to have four new guys in the team, maybe a fifth later on in the year. We'll see. But yeah, exciting times, for sure.

Through all of it, right? What is the official be back in town date for Husker Tenets? Well, we try and have them come back a week ahead of time. We try and respect, especially international guys that fly here from all over the world. We try and make sure that they recharge their batteries when they go home. Obviously, they're still playing and training and lifting and stuff like that. But we don't require them to be here all year. I don't think we're allowed to do that anyway.

But we asked them to come back a little bit early. There's some check in things they got to do with so they're ready to practice the first day school. So, you know, I have them come back a little bit early, get them reacclimated to the time zone and in Nebraska and then back to work, baby. So give you some of the list, the roll call of places, countries, states that your athletes are returning from because they're all over the place. Yeah, we have a new address. addition, a new country, Australia, one of our new recruits is from Australia. Another new country, the Netherlands. Neels is from the Netherlands. And then Yeri from Finland, we had a finish boy in our team last year, Ronnie. So we're, we're subbing out one and adding another.

And then, yeah, Spain, Argentina, Russia, two boys from the United States. So, yeah, we're kind of from all over. So we just signed a, we just signed a guy yesterday. We're allowed to talk about it now. His name's Matt Shear from New Zealand. So we lost a New Zealand boy, Kiwi boy last year, adding another one this year. So we're excited about him to he'll come in January. And yeah, the team's starting to round out. It's just fascinating because we talk about recruiting, you know, for the for the big revenue sports, we talk about recruiting just in full. It's a constant 24 hour a day, seven day a week, 52 weeks of conversation. And for tennis, it's got to be it's just it's got to be a different level of strain and stress because they're not local

these this is not easy to get to if you're going on you know Australia you're trying to recruit you're trying to do it digitally we do as much as you can that way and then so you don't you know if you go and spend spend the money on the ticket uh or on a plane ticket you you you know you're going to see the right person or you hope it's the right person so we do a lot of legwork on the front end and then obviously you got to go there and and see them but tennis is unique in the sense that the best players in the world didn't play college tennis and you don't have to play college tennis to be the best tennis player in the world. So you've got to first recruit them to play college tennis.

And then once you do that, now you open up the floodgate of all the other college coaches that are doing this at a really high level. So it can be tricky to get them to end up here in Nebraska. But I think if you're out, if you do the thing, you know, it's still a relationship-based game. and, you know, NIL and things like that are still relevant in tennis, but, you know, making sure that you can help them with their tennis and grow as a young man and, you know, come into a school like Nebraska where we have everything.

And this is as big time of a university as there is, not just in all the other sports, but also in tennis, that's the mentality that we have, I think is attractive for a lot of recruits too. What part of the pitch is them being parents, being in players, being able to trust you and trust Nebraska and trust Lincoln. Right. You're going to send your kids all over the world. That's got to be a big part of the pitch. Well, I, you know, I don't know what you guys think, but I still think I'm like a kid half the time. I walk around half the day like, you know,

acting like a kid in my own mind at least. Yes. Yes. But yeah, I mean, it's a, it's a, it's got to be a full circle approach. Obviously, you know, the families and the players have to trust me ultimately. But I think once they come here and they sit down with, you know, Alyssa, that works, that does all of our academics, Keith Zimmer with life skills. I think the parents fall in love with Keith and the life skill program. I think that's a huge asset to a sport like tennis, knowing that you're going to get more than just a degree and improve your tennis. You're also going to work on a resume. and if you want to do a job, interview, or some kind of internship, like all those things are doable while you're here.

So I think that program and life skills program is an amazing one that we have. And then just being involved with the community, you know, maybe having the chance to come down here and hop on a radio show or, or, you know, meeting all the tennis fans going down the woods or Genesis and getting to meet some of the local tennis people here. and then the state in Nebraska. I mean, obviously it's a sport that's dominated by football and also volleyball, and I would assume baseball is up there,

baseball softball are up there. But there's a strong tennis community here. It's not the biggest, but. You're passionate. They show up. Absolutely. They're showing up, they showed up even more last year,

and we'd expect them to keep coming for years to come. It is, with Husker tennis coach, Peter Cobalt, and a thing happens in other sports, where if there's an athlete of some skill and an accomplishment before they get here, in the recruiting world, and I'm sure all the parents listening will go through this, that if a young person is being recruited,

the first time they're brought to Nebraska, in other sports, a question is always offered, and it makes me pound my head against the desk, because they will ask, well, who else is recruiting? Who else is offered? What are your thoughts on that? is that necessary or not necessary? You try.

I think you get into that game when you're not really sure of what you're looking for. I think if you're really secure and you really understand what your team needs to look like. And, you know, I think some of the, some of that's a little bit of a beauty pageant where, okay, like if this guy's really good, but he's only being recruited by, you know, these schools that we. think we're better than like what do they know that we don't know right and why is there no other bigger you know so i think that maybe gets in in the way a little bit but i think if you see a if you see a prospect out there and they're checking off every single box on your on your recruiting list and i we've been over the five things that we look at really closely here i then we go you know so we don't we try not to look into what other other schools are looking at because i don't think they're

looking at recruits the same way we are i think so i think there's a there's a There's a little bit of a, you have to always understand what your opponents are doing. The other programs are doing. I think that's one part of all this. But I think you have to be really clear in your vision for what you're trying to do with your program, the players that you're trying to recruit. And hopefully, you know, you're doing it the right way. Yeah, I never understood the idea of going, yeah, that looks like,

that was like a Nebraska tennis player. But nobody else wants them. So why? No, if you know what you want. Yeah. You know what you're looking for. It makes it much easier. to recruit. Sure. And I think at the end of this, you know, BP, I'm still a young head, I'm still a young head coach and I

still have a lot to learn. But I want to, I want to look in, you know, in two or three years. I want to look back and say, hey, like these steps that we took as a program or what I truly believed in. And, you know, in the next two or three years, I want to be able to say, okay, this is, you know, I bought in 100 percent to my vision for the program. My staff bought in 100 percent. Our guys bought in 100% now we can actually make some adjustments if we need to or if we're doing it a damn good job then let's keep the pedal to the metal but I you know so I think it gives you a way to adapt and adjust if you need to because you truly gave 100% and you did it 100% the way you you wanted to do it and now you can adjust accordingly a lot of of Husker nation conversation when

it comes to athletics is NIL has it has the changes has the the adjustments, has it landed yet? Is the revenue share a part of how you do business now, or is it business as usual? Well, I think, I don't, I wouldn't, I don't think tennis will be involved at the revenue sharing, which, which isn't, I don't think a shock to too many. But I think it need to be said, because people will have the belief that, well, it's reserved for mostly the programs that generate revenue and there's, you know, and that's just the way it is.

So that's totally fine with us. the school is, you know, Mr. Dan and Troy, he's very supportive of all the programs, not just the ones that generate revenue. Obviously, we've finished 21st in a director's cup this year, and every sport is involved with those rankings, you know, to generate those rankings. Every sport has to have success, and Troy definitely cares about that. You know, that's one of his biggest goals every year. But, but yeah, I think, you know, we had an idea maybe two weeks ago what that looks like and then I think the president got involved and now there's a he came out with some kind of document you know maybe a week ago that maybe changed things one more time I don't know I think

we're all going to meet all the head coaches will meet before school starts and you know mr. dan and will update us where everything's at but it's a fluid thing you know we're all trying to figure it out still every university's trying to figure it out still I don't think anyone knows exactly what's going on still in in terms of here's what the blue is this is what you guys need to do but to have a leader like mr danan running the show i know that he's going to position all the sports here at nebraska in a in in a way that we can all be successful for years to come not just this year but also in five and five or ten years down the road so you you mentioned the overall you know you know finishing 21st amongst all the major programs in the country

when it comes to success and otherwise but i mean i don't want to bury the lead men's tennis is as good as it's ever been. What was the rating for Nebraska tennis, men's tennis at the end of the year? Yeah, we finished 39th in the country and fifth in the Big Ten. I thought we could have maybe finished fourth in the Big Ten. That one bugged me a little bit.

We lost two really close matches to a really good Washington team that I thought we could have won both of them and we ended up losing both. So that's also Mr. Dan's alma mater, or he came here from Washington. So we were trying to get that one. That was one of the ones that we really wanted to get for them.

We weren't able to. Sorry, Troy. But yeah, I mean, I think the Big Ten is as competitive of a conference in the tennis world as it's ever been adding USC and UCLA. Those are two historical tennis programs in Oregon. Obviously, you don't need to talk too much about Oregon. Everyone knows Oregon. And Washington, obviously, too. You know, those are four of the premier teams that came from the Pact 12.

So to finish fifth in the Big Ten, I think, is a really big deal. Obviously, that's not why I got into coaching to finish fifth for too much longer. We're trying to move up the ratings. We're trying to win Big Ten titles here. And I think if you can win a Big Ten title, you can compete for a national title year and year out. So that's our focus. How are we going to get this year's team to fourth, third, fourth, second-ish area?

how can we keep leveling up the program? Our goal is to win the Big Ten every year, and that's what we're working towards. I love that you said that, because that was going to be the next question is what's the ceiling for legitimate. Like, what's the ceiling for Nebraska tennis on the Big Ten level that there is a way?

It may not be easy, but there's a way for Nebraska to move up. Again, finishing fifth, should have been fourth, second and third, you're within reach, because you were within service aces of knocking off some of those programs. Yep. So is it a true statement that the authentic ceiling for Nebraska in the next couple of years

at some point is becoming a Big Ten champion? 100%. Why wouldn't not be? There's absolutely no reason for it not to be. Well, I love that you say that. Like, I love that you say that. And I know that you mean it. There are programs on some of the conversations that we have on this station.

Sometimes you can ask people. Sure. whether the program really has a legitimate chance to be, one, as good as they can be, whatever that is. And is that Big Ten Championship? Because there are some programs that even if they're at their best, they may not be Big Ten championship good because it's just a meat grind. Like it just is. Well, the same is true for men's tennis. Sure.

Big Ten men's tennis. It's a meat grinder. Who's the North Star that, like, when you try to target this thing and go, This is who we need to get to to be the best in the Big Ten. Who would that be? Yeah, I hate to say it because my alma, my alma mater and my former head coach, but the Ohio State Buckeyes are the, that's the, 43 out there. They're the, they're the program that has basically ran the Big Ten for the last 20 years or so.

I think they've won the Big Ten regular season, 18 years in a row, and they've won the Big Ten tournament, I don't know, 16. of those 18 years. So they've really had a wave of dominance, which I was a part of, which I think being a part of that and seeing how things were run there and then going to Kentucky and learning how things were done there in a totally different conference and also having success. Coming here and seeing all the resources that we have, seeing the support that we have from not just the athletic department, but also the community. I just, I just, I just, I just, I, don't know. I just see it and I'm like, okay, we can, we can do this here. Things can be done here.

What's the difference between Big Ten and SEC tennis? Yeah, that's a good, it's a good question. Obviously, the SECs, you're in the southern part of the country, so you're playing a little bit more outdoor tennis than indoor tennis. Big Ten is a little bit more indoor tennis than outdoor tennis. So that's probably the biggest difference from the public standpoint of view. But the SEC was very, very competitive. You know, the teams, you know, there was teams that finished with one or two wins in the SEC, but they were really good teams. So every match you had the, every match you played in the SEC conference was like,

you know, we were at Kentucky, we were undefeated in the SEC and we were playing Vanderbilt with zero wins and we barely beat, we beat them four, three. So that's just kind of the gauntlet that you went through in the SEC. I think that's where the big tennis is starting to shift. I think that before the expansion, I think it wasn't looked. The conference wasn't viewed in that light, but now adding these four teams, it's becoming a gauntlet, just like the SEC is. And I think that's going to make things more attractive for recruits as we continue to move up in the rankings,

hopefully, and compete for some of these bigger trophies at the end of the year. Well, coach, we, you know, we pay attention to the pressors training camp for Husker football and the things that Matt Rule and the players are talking about. So we're going to grab some clips. And I'm going to ask you your immediate, honest, authentic reaction to some of these. Because in some of the cases, right, coach speak has its place within their times when the coach really wants to deliver a message. Sure. I'm going to ask you to decode.

All right. We're going to ask you to deco Peter Cromwell, Ben's Tennis, here on one-on-one. We'll be right back. Watch live on Facebook, YouTube, or Twitch. You're listening to One-on-One with DP on 937 The Ticket and The Ticketfm.com.