Wrestling: Assistant Coach Robert Kokesh Leaving Program for the Family Farm

It was announced today that assistant coach Robert Kokesh will be leaving the Husker program to go home to his family’s farm in South Dakota.

The Huskers no doubt will miss Kokesh as a coach. He’s served on the Husker staff since 2016 — first as an administrative assistant then as an assistant coach the past few seasons.

Kokesh also wrestled for the Huskers from 2011-15. One of the most decorated Huskers of all time, Kokesh is No. 2 on the all-time win list with his 144-15 career record. Wrestling at 165 pounds before moving up to 174, Kokesh was a three-time All-American, finishing third twice and fourth once at the NCAA Championships.

Kokesh is also Nebraska’s only multi-time Big Ten Champion, winning the conference crown in 2014 and 2015.

So who will Nebraska bring in as an assistant coach?

It’s hard to know what Nebraska will do here. Could they elevate volunteer assistant Tervel Dlagnev up to the full-time assistant spot? That would be great, but who knows if that’s feasible with him serving as the head coach of the Nebraska Wrestling Training Center. If he does, that would be a great choice by head coach Mark Manning.

Then there’s the fact that James Green, a former four-time All-American for the Huskers, will be back in town soon after serving as Team USA’s developmental coach for the past year. Coming out of retirement after successful hip surgery, Green is coming back to Lincoln to train at the NWTC. Not only is Green a legend at Nebraska, he’s a two-time World medalist and six-time World Team member. Throw in his experience coaching age-level wrestlers for Team USA, and it’s obvious he’d be an absolute home run of a hire.

If not Dlagnev or Green, I imagine the job could also go to any number of Nebraska’s recent stars. I’d say Chad Red Jr. would be a good hire. The three-time All-American for Nebraska is currently an assistant coach for Indiana and I’m sure would like to come back to Nebraska. Another name that comes to mind would be Eric Schultz, a former Husker All-American who is currently training at the NWTC.

Stay tuned to find out who Nebraska chooses to replace Kokesh.