Timothy Ian Walton (born August 6, 1972) is an American college

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

coach and a former college and professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player. Walton is currently the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

of the Florida Gators softball team of the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

. He has a 839-182 (.822) record at Florida. He is a five-time

SEC Coach of the Year Coaches and media of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) bestow the following individual awards at the end of each college football season. Player of the Year * 1933 college football season, 1933: Beattie Feathers, HB, 1933 Tennessee Volunteers footb ...

and helped the Gators set the SEC single-season record wins at 27 and NCAA single-season record wins at 70 in 2008. Ten years later, he helped them set the NCAA record for the most walks at 360 that season. Walton has led the Gators to 8 SEC regular season championships, 5 SEC championships, 14 Regional appearances, 12 Super Regional appearances, and 10 Women's College World Series appearances with back-to-back Women's College World Series Championships in 2014 and 2015. With that success, he and his coaching staff won the 2015 NFCA Division I National Coaching Staff of the Year and are five time NFCA Southeast Region Coaching Staff of the Year Selections. Walton has been able to breed 43 NFCA All-American honors, 62 All-SEC honors, 2 USA Softball Player of the Year recipients, 3 Honda Award winners, 10 SEC Player and Pitcher of the Year honorees, and one NFCA Freshman of the Year. Players under Coach Walton have excelled off the field with 18 CoSIDA Academic All-American honors, 127 appearances in the SEC Honor Roll, and 55 SEC Academic Honor Roll First-Year recipients. Walton graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in history. He played professional baseball with the Philadelphia Phillies from 1995 to 1997. He is married and has two sons and a daughter.

Playing career

Walton first attended Cerritos College in his hometown of Cerritos, California, where he played for the Cerritos Falcons baseball team in 1992 and 1993. After his sophomore year, he transferred to the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,097 as of 2021. It is the largest city and the county seat of Cleveland County, Oklahoma, Cleveland County, and the second-largest city in the Oklahoma C ...

, where he was a two-year letter-winner for the

Oklahoma Sooners baseball Oklahoma Sooners baseball is the NCAA Division I collegiate baseball team of the University of Oklahoma (OU) based in Norman, Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Baseball tradition is long and storied, with two national championships in 1951 and 1994, along ...

team in 1994 and 1995. As a Sooner baseball player, Walton participated in two consecutive College World Series, earning a win in the Sooners' 13–5 victory over the

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. The teams have also been nicknamed the Rambl ...

in the

1994 College World Series The 1994 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1994 NCAA Division I baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the College World Serie ...

championship game. He graduated from the university with his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in history in 1996. After college, he played with the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

minor league organization for two seasons.

Coaching career

Walton was an assistant coach for the

Oklahoma Sooners softball The Oklahoma Sooners softball team represents the University of Oklahoma in NCAA Division I College softball. The team competes in the Big 12 Conference, and plays its home games at OU Softball Complex in Norman, Oklahoma. The Sooners are current ...

team of his alma mater, the

, for four seasons from 1999 to 2002. He accepted the head coaching position for the Wichita State Shockers softball team at Wichita State University after the 2002 season, and tallied a three-season win–loss record of 123–64 from 2003 to 2005. After taking over the Florida Gators softball program in 2006, Walton has compiled an overall win–loss record of 331–80 (.805) as the Gators' head coach.GatorZone.com, Softball, Coaching & Support Staff
Tim Walton
Retrieved June 8, 2011. All six of his Gators teams have qualified for the NCAA Tournament. In both 2008 and 2009, the Gators won the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

championship and the SEC tournament title. Since 2008, eight of his ten Gators teams have advanced to the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City, with his 2014 and 2015 teams winning the NCAA championship.

Personal

Walton is married to the former Samantha Rhoten, who played basketball at

Oral Roberts University Oral Roberts University (ORU) is a private evangelical university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Founded in 1963, the university is named after its founder, evangelist Oral Roberts. Sitting on a campus, ORU offers over 70 undergraduate degree programs ...

. The Waltons have two sons and a daughter.

Head coaching record

References

External links