Tim Walton is building something special in Gainesville.
With the Florida softball team winning its second consecutive national title on Wednesday over Michigan, he’s made Florida into the premier softball program in the nation.
And I’m going to throw out a word that’s been coming to my mind whenever I think about what Walton’s accomplished in his 10th season as the head coach.
That word is dynasty.
Walton has built one in the shadow of a university that is known mostly for its football and basketball programs.
His program has been a model of consistency since he arrived in 2006, making postseason after postseason and being in the Women’s College World Series year in and year out.
But what was Florida softball like before Walton?
The program was moderately successful under both Larry Ray and Karen Johns, but they never did anything that really stood out.
Ray’s biggest claim to fame at Florida was that he was the first coach of the team and he only parlayed that into one Southeastern Conference championship and a NCAA Region Six Runner-Up and he had a 169-106 record in his four seasons.
Johns was more successful than Ray after she replaced him, as the team hosted three NCAA Regionals and was the No. 13 national seed in her final season in 2005.
Johns posted a 192-131 record in five seasons.
To give some perspective, Walton has lost a total of 121 games in 10 seasons and has won 552 games.
That’s a winning percentage of .820 and he has a .785 career-winning percentage when you include his three years at Wichita State. The highest winning percentage before Walton’s arrival was .681 and that was in the second year of the program’s existence under Ray in 1998.
Walton has done all of that, plus he’s led the Gators to seven WCWS and the championship series four times. Oh and in 2008, Walton’s team won 70 games, which is the most wins in a single season in NCAA softball history.
And one might compare what Walton has done to this point to arguably the greatest softball coach of all-time: Sharon Backus.
Backus was the architect of the first dynasty in softball when she was the coach of the UCLA Bruins. Under Backus, the Bruins won eight national titles including the only three-peat ever in softball from 1988-90.
Backus won her first national title in her sixth season as the coach of the Bruins in 1982, which was also the first time the WCWS was played. Backus would then go on an unprecedented run, winning seven titles in the next 12 years. Who’s to say Walton can’t go on a type of run that Backus made in the 80’s and 90’s? Yes, the competition in softball is tougher in the present day than in the past and Florida plays in the toughest conference in the nation, the SEC, but Walton has already won two in a row.
With the way he reloads and recruits every year, I don’t think it’s that farfetched to say that he can win every year.
And I think Walton compares favorably to a current collegiate coach who’s built the premier dynasty in all of modern day sports: UConn’s Geno Auriemma.
Hear me out.
UConn had just one winning season before Auriemma took the job as the Huskies coach in 1985.
Compare that to Florida, as it wasn’t known to have a great softball program until Walton arrived and he’s done wonders for it.
But since Auriemma went to the Huskies, UConn’s had five perfect seasons under him including 10 national titles and 15 Final Fours.
Auriemma didn’t win his first national title until his 10th season in 1994-95 while he was at the helm in Storrs, Connecticut.
Walton won his first in his ninth season and won his second in his 10th. Auriemma had to wait five years before capturing his second title in 1999-2000.
Walton is already ahead of Auriemma in terms of fewest years to win two national titles and he’ll be ahead of his pace for the next couple of years.
Also take a look at the number of All-Americans on the roster each of them has every year. Walton had three on this year in Lauren Haeger, Kelsey Stewart and Aleshia Ocasio.
Plus both of them are consistently bringing in the best recruits from around the country. Walton has another good class coming into the team next year, highlighted by one of the best high school pitchers in Kelly Barnhill. Barnhill has the potential to be the ace of the staff once she’s on the team.
You might think comparing softball and women’s college basketball is like comparing apples and oranges and that I’m crazy for comparing Walton and Auriemma, but just think about it. With the amount of resources Walton has at his disposal and the way he coaches, who’s to doubt him from reaching the same pinnacle as Auriemma?
I certainly won’t be one of those doubters.
Follow Luis Torres on Twitter @LFTorresIII.
UF coach Tim Walton walks to the dugout during Florida's 1-0 win against Florida Atlantic in the 2015 NCAA Regionals on May 17, 2015, at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
