UF coach Tim Walton gets the post-game sports drink bath after the Gators WCWS-clinching win over Texas A&M in their NCAA Super Regional last month.

The Walton family (L-R: Camden, Samantha, Brooks, Tim, Palmer) pose with 2015 NCAA championship trophy.

appeared a tad taken aback, maybe even a bit irritated, by the question.It was the final inquiry of the post-game press conference after his University of Florida softball team's season ended Saturday night in a loss to Oklahoma at the Women's College World Series. The subject was a reported rumor, tossed out during the game by ESPN's broadcast team, that Texas was eyeing Walton for its vacant head coach's job, and that the interest was mutual. Walton was asked if he could say with "100 percent" certainty that he'd be back coaching the Gators in 2019."Well, first of all, I don't know about the interest on my part," Walton responded. "Two, I don't think this is the place to have that conversation. But thanks. It's flattering. I've got a great job, so thank you."Whether the timing and venue for such a question was appropriate is debatable. As of today, its relevance is not.The University Athletic Association announced Wednesday that Walton, winner of seven Southeastern Conference championships and two NCAA titles, has agreed to a 10-year contract extension that ties him to the Gators through the 2028 season. UF's latest trip to the WCWS was the ninth in the last 11 seasons under Walton, who came to UF in 2006, by way of Wichita State, and has built one of the most dominant programs in the sport.The UAA's commitment to Walton — as in the 10-year deal given to baseball coachlast year and to track-and-field coach Mike "Mouse" Holloway last month — not only acknowledges his past achievements, but is an investment in future success, as well."We want to make sure that everybody understands how happy we are that Tim is our softball coach, and we think making this very public gesture demonstrates that," UF athletic directorsaid. "Anytime you have someone who does a phenomenal job you want them to know they are valued and appreciated and that the commitment is going to be there for a long time. I think it's good for the University of Florida forto be our softball coach for as long as he wants to be."Thus far, Walton, 45, has been at UF for 13 seasons and along the way compiled a record of 722-149 (a winning percentage of .829), including 260-75 in the SEC, while being named league coach of the year five times. Under Walton, the Gators won back-to-back NCAA titles in 2014 and '15, and are coming off their most recent trip to Oklahoma City after finishing the 2018 season with a 56-11 record, along the way capturing both the SEC regular-season and tournament crowns, and boasting the SEC Player of the Year inand SEC Pitcher of the Year inAnd the show will go on — for a while, apparently."I was told before I came here that if you win at the University of Florida, it's the greatest place to live and work," Walton said. "In 13 years, we've demonstrated a track record here for competing for championships and treating our student-athletes and staff in a first-class manner, and now I'm being taken care for working my tail off and building this program the right way. This sends a message to every recruit, to our players, to our alumni, to my family — and a statement to the softball community, as well — that we are Gators and we are going to be Gators for a long, long time. We're thrilled to be here, thankful for the commitment, and ready to put our head down and keep on working."To the latter point, Walton wanted it known the UAA's long-term faith in him will not be taken lightly. This is his program and he takes great pride in all aspects of it, from his 27 All-SEC selections to his 59 All-SEC Academic Honor Role honorees. But there's more.The Walton family also has sprouted roots here. He and wife Samantha have raised three children in Gainesville. Their oldest son, Brooks, just graduated from Buchholz High and will play baseball across town at Santa Fe Community College."This feels like home," Walton said. "It's a place we've shared some great memories and spent some of the best years of our lives as a family. So, yes, it's home."Work is scheduled to begin on Walton's home-away-from-home — Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium — next week when wrecking balls and bulldozers head to the UF softball complex to start work on an $11 million renovation project. When completed next spring (in time for the 2019 season), the Gators will have a sparkling new, first-class facility that Walton, his players and fans will enjoy for what both parties now agree will be a long, long time."You look in the outfield at our stadium, and you look at the years of College World Seres appearances since Tim's been here, and it's just a remarkable level of consistency at a high, high level," Stricklin said. "With the young women he's brought in and the fan support his teams have generated, it's just hard to imagine you could run a program better thanhas run the Gators softball program."