Chris Tamas
American volleyball player
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Christopher Tamas (born January 27, 1981) is an American volleyball coach. He is the head coach of the Illinois Fighting Illini women's volleyball team, a position he had held since 2017. In 2018, he led the Fighting Illini to the NCAA Final Four.[2]
Chris Tamas at an Illinois volleyball practice in October 2022 | |
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Illinois |
| Conference | Big Ten |
| Record | 162–109 |
| Annual salary | $368,000[1] |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | January 27, 1981 Santa Barbara, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of the Pacific |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 2009–2011 | UC Riverside (assistant) |
| 2011–2012 | Minnesota (assistant) |
| 2013–2015 | Cal Poly (assistant) |
| 2014–2017 | Nebraska (assistant) |
| 2017–present | Illinois |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 162–109 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Awards | |
| AVCA Northeast Region Coach of the Year (2018) | |
Early life
Tamas graduated from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, earning his bachelor's degree in sports sciences/management in 2003.[3]
Coaching career
UC Riverside
Tamas served as an assistant coach at UC Riverside from 2009 to 2011.
Minnesota
Tamas served as an assistant coach at Minnesota from 2011 to 2012.
Cal Poly
From 2013 to 2015, Tamas served as an assistant volleyball coach at Cal Poly.[4]
Nebraska
On May 28, 2015, Tamas was hired by Nebraska to be an assistant volleyball coach under Hall of Fame head coach John Cook.[5]
Illinois
Tamas was hired as Head Volleyball Coach by the University of Illinois on February 10, 2017, as the eighth head coach in Illinois history. Tamas led Illinois to the 2018 NCAA National semifinals. In the 2021 NCAA Tournament, Tamas led his team, who ranked 7th in the Big Ten conference, to an upset of national no. 7 seed and defending NCAA national champions Kentucky in the second round.[6]
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois Fighting Illini (Big Ten Conference) (2017–present) | |||||||||
| 2017 | Illinois | 23–11 | 12–8 | T–5th | NCAA Division I Regional semifinal | ||||
| 2018 | Illinois | 32–4 | 17–3 | 2nd | NCAA Division I National semifinal | ||||
| 2019 | Illinois | 16–14 | 11–9 | 7th | NCAA Division I first round | ||||
| 2020 | Illinois | 7–11 | 7–11 | 7th | |||||
| 2021 | Illinois | 22–12 | 12–8 | 7th | NCAA Division I Regional semifinal | ||||
| 2022 | Illinois | 15–15 | 10–10 | 7th | |||||
| 2023 | Illinois | 16–14 | 11–9 | T–6th | |||||
| 2024 | Illinois | 18–12 | 10–10 | 8th | NCAA Division I first round | ||||
| 2025 | Illinois | 13–16 | 8–12 | T–10th | |||||
| Illinois: | 162–109 (.598) | 98–80 (.551) | |||||||
| Total: | 162–109 (.598) | ||||||||
Coaching tree
Assistant coaches under Tamas who became NCAA head coaches
- Rashinda Reed - Alabama [7]
- Alfee Reft - UCLA [8]
- Jason Mansfield - Kansas State [9]