Title: Head coach, University of Florida
Sport: Fastpitch Softball
Career Record: 454-144

Head coach Tim Walton has changed the face of Florida softball since his first season in 2006.  He has brought the program to new heights, setting countless records and earning numerous firsts for the Gator softball program.

In his six years at Florida, Walton has coached the Gators to the Women’s College World Series four times, including two trips to the championship series, brought home two Southeastern Conference regular-season titles, two tournament titles and earned SEC Coach of the Year three times.  UF has made the NCAA Tournament every year of his tenure and hosted Regionals all six times.

In 2011, while Florida fell short of becoming the first SEC program to win a national title, the program turned in a stellar and record-breaking year with a number of highlights and accomplishments. UF paced the nation in Academic All-Americans, with four, and boasts a nation-leading six All-Americans, the most possible for a single institution. Florida jumped out of the gates in 2011 with a 24-0 start, the best in school history, and worked their way to a fourth straight SEC Eastern Division title, the fifth in Gator history.

This year’s squad downed over 30 University of Florida single-season, game and career records en route to a fourth WCWS appearance, and Walton picked up his 400th career win and 300th victory at the helm of the Gator program. Walton is 330-80 (.804) at UF and boasts a 454-144 (. 759) career record as a head coach.

The Gators knocked 124 home runs on the 2011 season, extending their own 2010 SEC and UF single-season record.  As of the 2010 season, he had coached 14 All-Americans, 19 NFCA All-Southeast Region honorees, five WCWS All-Tournament team selections, 23 All-SEC selections, 13 SEC All-Tournament team members, including two MVPs, two SEC Pitchers of the Year and a Player of the Year.  The coaching staff has earned NFCA Southeast Regional Coaching Staff of the Year three years and the team was one of Easton’s Teams of the Year in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.  The Gators additionally continue to shatter the UF record book under Walton’s tutelage.  They have broken 246 records combined since 2006.  In 2008, Walton led his team to an NCAA-record 70-win season and set the best SEC record in league history at 27-1.  In 2010, UF batters broke the SEC home run record they set in 2009 with 109 bombs, the fifth-most in NCAA history.

Walton, the third head coach in the history of the Gator program, came to Florida from Wichita State University in Wichita, Kan., where he had been the head coach for three seasons. In 2005, Walton led the Shockers to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 16 years as they earned the first at-large bid in school history. Wichita State finished the 2005 season with a school record 46-18 record and broke 30 school records in the process.

Walton has been a part of national championship teams as an assistant softball coach and as a baseball player, both for the University of Oklahoma. Before heading to Wichita, Walton served as an assistant softball coach for the national-powerhouse Sooners, as the hitting coach and outfielders coach. In his four seasons at OU, the Sooners won three Big XII titles and made three consecutive WCWS appearances, including winning the 2000 NCAA title.

As a head coach, Walton stresses academics and community involvement with his teams, as well as on-field performance. Since arriving in Gainesville, Walton has had his team involved in the community through Shands Hospital, March of Dimes, Climb for Cancer and Habitat for Humanity, among other activities.  In 2009, the Gators held the inaugural “Gators Swing for Cancer” event, which raised money for Shands Cancer Research Hospital.  The Gators were recently awarded the 2010 UF Life Skills Cup for having the most community service hours of any Gator athletic team.

Walton additionally hit the national softball coaching scene in 2010 when he was honored by the USSSA Pride of the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) professional softball league by being named head coach of the Florida Pride (Orlando). Walton led the Pride to the 2010 NPF Championship title this past summer. The championship victory and NPF trophy was the first ever in Florida Pride history.  He will once again coach the Pride in 2011.

After graduating from Oklahoma with a degree in history, Walton played with the Philadelphia Phillies minor league organization for two seasons.

Walton is married to the former Samantha Rhoten, who was a basketball player at Oral Roberts. The couple has two sons, Brooks (11) and Palmer (5), and a daughter, Camden (8).