The 2026 season marks Cris Trillo’s 26th year as Head Coach of the men’s soccer team at Joliet Junior College.

Coach Trillo's teams have compiled a 187-151-25 overall record, and he has been named Region IV Coach of the Year five times and Midwest District Coach of the Year in 2024 and 2025 while placing 5th and 8th at the NJCAA Division 3 National Tournament. He has coached 13 All-Americans, 64 All-Region players, and 55 All-Conference players at JJC, in addition to 1 MVP at the 2025 National Tournament, and 2 All-Tournament team.

In 1993, Trillo came to JJC to teach Spanish and French for the English & World Languages department. A year later, he started the JJC soccer club and coached it for six years. In 2000, the college made men’s soccer a varsity sport, and Trillo was appointed as the Head Men’s soccer coach.

Starting in 2010, Coach Trillo developed and taught a soccer coaching class in addition to his World Languages classes. In 2023, he retired as Professor Emeritus.

In the last three years, he has brought over 25 international student-athletes. Coach Trillo participated as a staff member in the 2024 and 2025 Elite Summer Camp at the International School of Brussels in Belgium.

Coach Trillo spent his childhood between Morocco and Spain. He attended a French school in Tangier, Morocco and was a two-sport athlete playing soccer and basketball in high school and college. He attended the Universidad de Granada in Spain, where he played soccer and received his bachelor’s degree in Translation. Before coming to the United States, he lived in Madrid, Spain where he played soccer for a club.

In the United States, Trillo received bachelor's and master’s degrees from the University of Northern Iowa. While attending UNI, he played club soccer. He continues to play soccer for his over 60 HCC club at the Wheatland Athletic Association in Aurora.

In the summer, he enjoys spending one month in Spain visiting family and friends.