CHAMPAIGN, ILL – The University of Illinois has selected Chris Tamas as the new head coach of the Fighting Illini volleyball program, Director of Athletics Josh Whitman announced Friday. The hire is pending completion of university hiring processes and Board of Trustees approval. Tamas (pronounced Thomas) becomes the eighth head coach in Illinois history, replacing Kevin Hambly who was named head coach at Stanford in January.
“As expected, our coaching opportunity attracted widespread interest from coaches across the country, including many sitting head coaches,” Whitman said. “Chris stood out immediately. His breadth of experience as both a player and coach, his commitment to the personal growth and development of our student-athletes, his work ethic, and his fierce competitiveness are compelling. He has learned from some of the best coaches in the game, both collegiately and internationally, and we are excited for him to make his mark on Illinois volleyball.”
Tamas comes to Illinois following many years learning from some of the game's great coaches, including John Cook at Nebraska and former U.S. National Team coaches Hugh McCutcheon and Ron Larsen. In all, Tamas is in his ninth year of collegiate coaching including two years at Nebraska, two years at Cal Poly, two years at Minnesota and two years at UC-Riverside.
“My family and I are extremely excited about the opportunity to coach at the University of Illinois,” Tamas said. “Huff Hall is one of the outstanding volleyball venues in the nation, and I’ve always thought the Spike Squad was awesome. Illinois has traditionally been one of the elite programs in the country and the Big Ten Conference is the premier volleyball league in the nation. I can’t wait to work with our team and prepare to compete against the best. I’ve seen this team play for the past two seasons and I’m excited with the level of talent we have and at the talent coming in. We look forward to hitting the ground running.”
Tamas is a 2003 graduate of the University of the Pacific with a degree in sports sciences. He was a four-year starter for the Tigers and a unanimous AVCA All-American first team selection and team MVP during his 2003 senior season. In four years with the U.S. Men’s National Team (1999, 2003, 2005-06), Tamas made 34 appearances, and, in 1999, helped the squad to a silver medal at the World Junior Championships in Havana. As national team captain in 2003, Tamas helped lead the United States to a bronze medal at the World University Games in Daegu, South Korea.
A training camp invitee for the U.S. squad that eventually captured the 2008 Olympic gold medal, Tamas also helped U.S. teams to silver at the 2005 World Grand Champions Cup in Japan and, as a setter, to a gold at the 2006 NORCECA Championships in Mexicali, Mexico.
As a professional, Tamas competed for six years overseas with clubs Protect Eye Orion (Netherlands), Antigos Alunos (Portugal), Real Grupo (Spain), Erdemir (Turkey), Dionysos (Cyprus) and Isku (Finland). In Finland and Cyprus, Tamas helped his clubs to national cup championships.
A native of Santa Barbara, California, Tamas and his wife, Jennifer (Joines) Tamas, have two children, Jimmy and Josephine. Jennifer was a volunteer assistant at both Nebraska and Cal Poly. She was a four-time All-American middle blocker at Pacific (2000-03) and silver medalist with the United States at the 2008 Summer Olympics while playing professionally for eight years in Japan, Italy, Russia, Azerbaijan and Puerto Rico. She was the U.S. Women’s National Team captain for four years.
