When Tim Walton first arrived in Gainesville after taking the Florida softball coaching job in 2006, he had a family decision to make.
With two young children and a third on the way, Tim and his wife Samantha mulled about whether to enter the kids into the Florida prepaid college program.
“We’re like, we’ve got a five-year contract, we’re not buying Florida prepaid,” Walton said. “So probably the worst decision I made in my life.”
Samantha agreed.
“So it happens, Tim is pretty good at his job,” she said.
Walton can laugh about it 20 years later. In that span, the 53-year-old Walton has coached the Florida Gators to 1,081 wins, 13 Women’s College World Series trips and two national titles, while touching the lives of hundreds of young women.
He’s also raised a family who is as invested in the program as he is, while pursuing their own athletic interests. Tim and Samantha’s eldest son, Brooks, was a former pitcher at Buchholz and Santa Fe College and now works on Walton’s softball staff. Middle daughter Camden played lacrosse at Buchholz before graduating at UF and works as a recruiting coordinator for UF’s men’s golf program. Youngest son Palmer, who was born in Gainesville, plays on Santa Fe College’s men’s basketball team.
“It’s been more than I ever dreamed it would be,” Walton said. “Not softball because we’re doing exactly what I set out to do here, but when you have a family and you bring a family along, kindergarten, high school, college, we’re doing it the exact way on the field that I thought, but off the field has been more rewarding.”
Florida (51-10) is on the cusp of its 14th WCWS trip under Walton, as the sixth-seeded Gators will host 11th-seed Texas Tech in the Gainesville Super Regional, which starts May 22 at 11 a.m. (ESPN2).
“It’s so cool to see him be so successful,” Camden said. “I’m lucky because I don’t know anything else, like, they have a loss and for us it kind of feels like, super rare. We’re just lucky that he’s had so much success and that it’s been so much fun to watch.”
How Florida softball coach Tim Walton, family, have found work/life balance
The job of a Division I coach, in any sport, can be all encompassing. Camden recalled growing up that she and her brothers would argue which road trips they could go on, so they could hang out with dad and the team.
“I have a ton of memories being a little kid on the bus with the team, going in the back and telling the girls to braid my hair at breakfast,” Camden said.
Brooks and Palmer both had their graduation pictures taken in June at Oklahoma City on the field at the Women’s College World Series.
“They are hooked on Tim, softball,” Samantha said. “They can do all the other things for their respective sports, jobs, but when it comes down it, he’s the catalyst to how we all move forward.”
Still, the family has found joy in the simple pleasures that Gainesville has to offer − dinners at Blue Highway pizza or summer getaways at Lake Santa Fe. Brooks recalled one day this season when Walton re-arranged the practice schedule so the family could go to Orlando to catch an NBA game between the Magic and Brooks’ favorite team, the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“I don’t know too many high-level coaches that would be like, hey, let’s on an random Tuesday make sure we go down to Orlando and make sure that as a family watch an NBA game,” Brooks said. “It was nice.”
Walton said it’s a lesson he hopes filters down to all of the players he coaches.
“We don’t just do softball 24/7,” Walton said. “We’re going to try to be as good as we can be, but go home, see your family, go out to eat, do other things, do normal things, go out to a concert. I think that’s all important. That’s what I really want them to be more than anything.”
How Tim Walton built Florida softball into a power
Francesca Enea was one of several players from California that Walton convinced to travel cross-country to play for the Gators more than 20 years ago. Walton had recruited Enea’s older sister when he was an assistant coach at Oklahoma.
“It was going to be far away, but I was excited to want to play for him,” Enea said. “He hadn’t really developed a big name for himself but the swag that he carried with him, and just the way he spoke about the future of what the program could be, it was electrifying.”
Enea was one of UF’s first sluggers under Walton, belting 67 homers and 221 RBIs from 2007-10. By 2008, Florida made its first WCWS trip in school history. In 2009 and 2011, UF was the national runner up in the WCWS, still seeking the program’s first national title.
“When I played there, we were a very strong offensive team,” Enea said. “He wanted us to be fun to watch, that was his thing like be fun to watch, let’s hit like a whole bunch of home runs.
“With that being said, he recruited a bunch of big hitters and I would say our weakness is we weren’t probably as good defensively and because of that, when we played at the ‘09 national championship, I think that was a big reason why we came out on the losing end.”
After the disappointment of 2009 and 2011, Enea said Walton evolved, prioritizing pitching and defense to complement a few sluggers in the lineup. Two-way standout Lauren Hager, who could slug two homers one day and throw a shutout the next, helped lead UF to back-to-back national titles in 2014 and 2015.
“Some of his everyday starters like Aubree Munro behind the plate and Katie Medina at shortstop, I think they were both like batting below .200,” Enea said. “But they were so good defensively and they knew how to come up clutch with big hits for the team.”
Three years ago, Enea returned to the program at UF’s hitting coach. She’s seen Walton soften some of his rough edges and adapt to players in the Name, Image and Likeness era. A few months ago, the team adopted a western wear theme during a road trip. Walton popped on a cowboy hat.
“Those girls were taking pictures of him, and making fun of him and he just eats it up because he gets to dish it and they take it and they take it right back,” Camden said. “They all have such good relationships.”
Still Walton hasn’t lost that no-nonsense, perfectionist side, which has allowed his teams to excel through attention to detail.
“He’s going to do everything the right way,” Brooks said. “He’s going to give you credit when you deserve credit and I would say that he treats everybody right. I work for him now so this is my third year on staff and anybody that ever asks, ‘Well how is it working for your dad?’ He treats me fair, he treats me like everybody else.”
It’s been a wild, 20-year ride but the Waltons have remained grounded. They’ve been fortunate to develop roots in one place in a volatile, college sports climate. Camden jokes her friends call her the “mayor of Gainesville” a moniker the 23-year-old accepts with pride.
“I literally can’t imagine my life any way else, especially now being an alumnus of UF,” Camden said. “It just means that much more.”
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: How Tim Walton and family grew alongside Florida softball’s rise to national power
Reporting by Kevin Brockway, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
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