Adam Christ enters his 10th season as an assistant coach for the Fighting Illini in 2025, working with the hitters, serving as the third base coach, and leading Illinois' recruiting efforts. He joined the staff in July 2015 after spending seven seasons at Minnesota State.

Christ helped build one of the best offenses in program history in 2024, as the Illini were simply dominant at the plate. Illinois crushed a program-record 104 home runs and were the only Big Ten team to hit more than 90 on the season. Illinois also led the conference in slugging and OPS and ranked in the top five in runs, hits, RBI, walks and on-base percentage. The Illini had a run of six-straight games with double-digit runs from March 24 - April 5, the lonest such streak in program history since 1895-96. Illinois also posted two games with at least 20 runs, the first such occurance since 2000. The high-powered offense helped lead the Illini to an outright Big Ten championship, their first since 2015, and the program's first NCAA Tournament appearances since 2019.

Under the hitting instruction of Christ, Illinois had a strong 2021 season at the plate. The Illini ranked first in the Big Ten in batting average and hits, third in runs, and fifth in on-base percentage, slugging percentage and walks. Illinois averaged 6.6 runs per game, their most in a season since 2009. 

Christ also oversaw the ascension of Justin Janas to becoming the Big Ten regular season batting champion in 2021. Illinois has had the regular season batting champion in the Big Ten in three of the last four full seasons. Janas in 2021, Grant Van Scoy held it in 2019 and Bren Spillane achieved the honor in 2018.

Christ helped the Fighting Illini return to the NCAA Tournament in 2019 after finishing third in the Big Ten and owning two season series wins over ranked teams (Coastal Carolina, Indiana). Illinois has gone 150-119 (.558) since Christ's arrival in Champaign and has had a National Player of the Year, Gold Glove winner, and has had 16 players selected in the MLB Draft. Illinois was off to a hot start in 2020 with ranked wins over #13 Texas A&M and #23 Oklahoma State before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the season before the Illini could make a run at back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths. 

Christ has been instrumental in the development of two of the top five position player draft picks in Illinois history, Bren Spillane and Michael Massey. When the Reds drafted Spillane with the No. 82 overall pick in 2018, he became the highest drafted position player in Illinois history. A year later Massey went No. 109 overall to become the highest drafted infielder ever for the program.

Spillane was the 2018 Collegiate Baseball Newspaper National Player of the Year, the fourth national player of the year in Big Ten history and the Illini’s first. He had one of the best offensive seasons in Illinois history, hitting .389 with 23 home runs, 158 total bases and a .903 slugging percentage. He was a consensus first team All-American, the 2018 Big Ten Player of the Year and a Dick Howser Trophy finalist. 

Spillane was followed in the 2018 draft by Illini outfielders Doran Turchin (14th round, Baltimore) and Zac Taylor (36th round, Minnesota) to give Illinois its highest position player draft total since the record-setting 2015 team. A year later in 2019, Illinois had four position players drafted in Massey, Jack Yalowitz (10th round, Colorado), Ben Troike (11th round, Tampa Bay) and Taylor (25th round, Chicago Cubs).

Spillane, the No. 500 recruit in high school (Perfect Game), was just one of many Illini that have made huge jumps in national rankings since arriving in Champaign. Massey was Perfect Game's No. 344 recruit out of high school and was picked No. 109, while leaping from the No. 57 second baseman (Perfect Game) to No. 3 at the start of 2019 season (D1). Ben Troike went from No. 132 shortstop (Perfect Game) to No. 17 (D1) and an 11th round pick, and Jack Yalowitz went from outside of Perfect Game's top 1,000 recruits to a 10th round pick in 2019.

Christ’s work expands off the field, as he helped Illinois bring in the No. 22 recruiting class in the nation in 2018, according to D1Baseball.com. Baseball America ranked the class at No. 24, the first top-25 class in Illinois history. 

In his first season at Illinois, the Fighting Illini went 28-23 with four draft picks, including one position player and another MLB free agent signing. Senior catcher Jason Goldstein was picked in the ninth round, an improvement from his 17th round selection from the year before, and shortstop Adam Walton was picked up by the Arizona Diamondbacks. 

The following season Christ helped the Illini, one of the youngest teams in the Big Ten, have three All-Big Ten selections and two All-Freshman Team picks. Sophomore Jack Yalowitz had a breakout season with a .335 batting average and 12 homers to earn All-Big Ten first-team honors and be in the conversation for Big Ten Player of the Year. Senior Pat McInerney hit 15 homers and was a second-team selection, while freshman Michael Massey hit .330 with six long balls to earn third team and All-Freshman Team awards. Redshirt freshman walk-on Casey Dodge emerged as the Illini’s designated hitter, a year after serving as the bullpen catcher, to hit .280 and earn an All-Freshman Team pick. 

Named an assistant coach at Minnesota State in the summer of 2008, Christ was promoted to associate head coach in 2012. During his time with the Mavericks, Minnesota State accrued a 306-86 overall record for a .781 winning percentage.

In his seven seasons in Mankato, Minnesota State made seven NCAA postseason tournament appearances, won four Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular-season titles, four NSIC tournament titles, claimed four NCAA regional titles and posted NCAA DII National Championship tournament finishes of seventh (2010), third (2012), second (2013) and third (2014).

The Waseca, Minnesota, native spent three years with the Ripken Academy in Aberdeen, Maryland prior to becoming an assistant coach at Minnesota State. A graduate assistant coach with the Maverick baseball program for two years (he earned his master’s degree from Minnesota State in 2008), Christ is a 2003 University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee graduate where he was middle infielder with the Panthers.

Christ also spent a season with the baseball program at Iowa State (2000-01) where he was the starting shortstop and earned a scholar-athlete award with the Cyclones. He also logged two years at Des Moines Area Community College (1998-99 and 1999-2000) where he was a two-time all-conference selection.

Christ and his wife, Amanda, have three children, Coryn, Bo and Natalie.