Texas Football: 2 former Horns transfers that re-united with Tom Herman

Ben Ballard, QB

The first former Longhorn that Herman and the Owls landed via the portal in the 2023 transfer class was the former preferred walk-on senior Texas quarterback Ben Ballard. After spending four years at Texas, Ballard put his name in the transfer portal early this offseason. He ultimately got to re-unite with the head coach that initially brought him into the program as a preferred walk-on a few years ago.

The 5-foot-11 and 200-pound Ballard played sparingly at Texas over the course of his four-year career on the Forty Acres. He didn’t see any snaps as a true freshman during the 2019 season.

Ballard saw the field for the first time in his collegiate career at Texas late in the 2020 season, when he took a few live-game snaps when the Longhorns were up big in the 2020 Alamo Bowl against the Colorado Buffaloes. He wound up running the ball one time for seven yards in the 2020 Alamo Bowl.

During the 2021 season, Ballard got a couple of snaps in the regular season finale win at home over the Kansas State Wildcats. That would be the final time that Ballard saw live-game action during his career at Texas.

After not seeing any live-game action during the 2022 season, the Hyde Park High School product and Austin, TX, native Ballard put his name in the transfer portal to try and find more playing time elsewhere. That’s when he landed with Herman and the Owls to try and throw his hat in the ring in the quarterback competition in Boca Raton.