Christopher Tamas (born January 27, 1981) is an American
volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
coach. He is the head coach of the
Illinois Fighting Illini women's volleyball
The Illinois Fighting Illini women's volleyball is the NCAA Division I intercollegiate volleyball program of the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, often referred to as "Illinois", located in Champaign, Illinois. The Illinois volleyba ...
team, a position he had held since 2017. In 2018, he led the Fighting Illini to the
NCAA Final Four.
Early life
Tamas graduated from the
University of the Pacific in
Stockton, California
Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. Stockton was founded by Carlos Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquir ...
, earning his bachelor's degree in sports sciences/management in 2003.
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.
Nebraska
On May 28, 2015, Tamas was hired by Nebraska to be an assistant volleyball coach under Hall of Fame head coach
John Cook.
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
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
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
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
in the second round.
Head coaching record
Coaching tree
Assistant coaches under Tamas who became NCAA head coaches
* Rashinda Reed - Alabama
* Alfee Reft - UCLA
* Jason Mansfield - Kansas State
References
External links
Illinois profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tamas, Chris
Living people
1981 births
American volleyball coaches
Cal Poly Mustangs coaches
Illinois Fighting Illini women's volleyball coaches
Minnesota Golden Gophers women's volleyball coaches
Nebraska Cornhuskers women's volleyball coaches
UC Riverside Highlanders women's volleyball coaches
University of the Pacific (United States) alumni
Sportspeople from Santa Barbara, California