One of Reilly Christie’s favorite sayings is ‘It’s a great day to be great.’
That positive, infectious attitude is something he brought with him to Salem High five years ago — and it certainly rubbed off on a lot of people that he met over the last half-decade.
Having spent the last four years as Salem High’s athletic director after a year of teaching and coaching at the school, the 31-year-old Christie is now leaving for the AD’s job at nearby Malden Catholic.
“It’s exciting but bittersweet,” said Christie, who watched as the Witches won a dozen individual (boys and girls wrestling, boys swimming, Unified Sports) or team (boys basketball) state championships during his tenure. “There’s only one Witch City, and it’s really hard leaving here. I loved it at Salem.
“But I’m also super excited about this next opportunity.”
Over the last four years, said Christie, athletic participation has increased from 22 percent of the student body to 47 percent during the 2025-26 school year. He credits much of that to the job that Principal Glenn Burns and other administrators at the school making it a “great academic institution where Salem kids wanted to stay home and play for Salem High.”
Burns thanked Christie for bringing “his all every day” during his tenure at Salem High.
“He believed deeply in our students, elevated our athletic programs, and proudly represented what it means to be a Witch,” said Burns. “His impact extended far beyond wins and losses and will continue in the opportunities he helped create for countless student-athletes. While we are sad to see him leave the Witches, we know he will continue to make a difference at Malden Catholic.”
Having come to Salem (where his wife Shannon, SHS Class of 2013, hails) from Southern Methodist University in Texas, where he worked as a quality control analyst and graduate assistant football coach for the Mustangs while earning his Master’s degree, Christie taught computer science and was an assistant football and wrestling coach while serving as head coach of the boys lacrosse team his first year.
Beginning with the 2022-23 school year, he took over as athletic director.
“It was truly an unbelievable experience. I’ve worked with some phenomenal students, coaches, administrative staff and teachers, something I’m so grateful and honored to have done,” said Christie, who made sure to tell as many of his coaches the news of his departure before it was made public. “They’re the ones who deserve the credit for our athletic success.”
Christie, a graduate of UMass Amherst with a degree in sports management and finance who was the student manager for the Minutemen’s football team, will be joining an athletic program at Malden Catholic that is part of arguably the state’s best league, the Catholic Conference. It is also the only co-ed school in the conference, having first admitted girls in 2018.
Many of the Lancers’ sports play at the Division 1 level (with exceptions like football and track and field), and the school’s new Donovan Field House, with its indoor field, new weight room, and practice basketball and volleyball courts, was quite enticing. So is the fact that the participation rate in athletics, said Christie, is around 95 percent.
“MC’s in a place of real transformative growth and excitement,” said Christie. “Their enrollment has been increasing, 80 percent of the girls’ sports have made the state playoffs over the last five seasons, and while the boys are at 50 percent over that same time frame, we want to change that. Football made the Final Four last year and boys basketball has won several state titles in Division 2 (2022, ’23, ’24) recently.”
“Plus, it’s obviously an unbelievable academic institution,” said Christie. “It’s a great opportunity for me to help build and grow champions there.”
Asked what he thought his legacy at Salem High would be, Christie thought before replying “The passion, energy and care I had four our student-athletes and coaches. I hope that’s something that continues on at Salem with the next athletic director.”