Career
Ballard was a one year starter at Wilmington College then transferred after his freshman year to Mount Union College. While at Mount Union, Ballard broke numerous school, conference and National Collegiate Athletic Association records en route to leading the Purple Raiders to their first ever Division III National Championship in 1993. The two-time recipient of the Mike Gregory Award, which is given to the Ohio Athletic Conference"s top offensive back, he was a three time All-Conference selection and suffered only one OAC loss during his college career.
He held every Mount Union passing record by the end of his career and still holds the National Collegiate Athletic Association record for highest number of touchdowns thrown in a playoff game (8).
In 2008, Jim was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Ballard was an All-American at Mount Union College.
Jim Ballard played 13 seasons in 10 years of professional football at the position of Quarterback. His NFL career began with the Cincinnati Bengals in 1994.
Ballard played in NFL Europe for the London Monarchs in 1995, then for the Scottish Claymores in 1996, where he led them to The World Bowl Championship.
The success of that season led him to Atlanta where he signed with the Falcons upon his return to the United States. Heading to Orchard Park, New York, in 1997, he signed with the Buffalo Bills. He would go back to play for the Scottish Claymores in the Spring of 1998, then back to the Bills training camp in August where he was sidelined by a shoulder injury that resulted in surgery.
In 1999, Ballard traveled to Canada to play for the Toronto Argonauts.
In 2000, he continued his Canadian Football League career with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. In 2001, Jim played for The Buffalo Destroyers in the Arena Football League, then went out west to play in the XFL for the Las Vegas Outlaws.
Ballard completed his Canadian experience with the Toronto Argonauts in 2002. He went back home to the United States. to play arena football for two more seasons in 2002 and 2003 for the Indiana Firebirds.
As a coach, Ballard has experience at Mount Union College as QB coach in 1994-1995, Alliance High School as QB coach in 1996 and 1998, Cuyahoga Falls High School as QB coach in 2001-2003, and Assistant Head Coach of the Canton Legends of the American Indoor Football Association in 2005.
He was hired in 2013 to be an Elite 11 Coach and was also offered the National Collegiate Athletic Association Football All-Star Game Head Coach position. In May 2013, United States of America College Football announced that the Division III Quarterback of the Year Award would be renamed The Jim Ballard Trophy. Ballard is an analyst for Mount Union football games on Sports Time Ohio with Joe Tait and Harry Paidis as well as being a regular guest on Big Time Sports on Department of Administration and Management 1350.
