The Texas Tech football program has added one final transfer to the 2025 roster in a move that likely completes the Red Raiders' offseason maneuvering, at least as far as the upcoming season is concerned. Ian Hershey, a punter and place kicker from Arizona State has joined head coach Joey McGuire's program to provide depth and competition at a position of concern.
A native of Chubbuck, Idaho who is now headed to Lubbock, Texas, the redshirt junior began his college career at Idaho State before spending the last two seasons in Tempe (he redshirted in 2023). In all, he's gone 14 of 23 (60.8%) on field goal tries while making 36 of 39 (92.3%) extra point attempts.
Meanwhile, he averaged 38.7 yards per punt in 2022 and 39.6 yards per punt last fall. He has 72 punts to his name thus far.
This spring, after the Texas Tech place kickers struggled in the spring game, McGuire said that his plan was to add a player who can punt and handle place kicking chores. That's what Hershey brings to the roster.
WRECK ‘EM ‼️ @JoeyMcGuireTTU @CoachKennyPerry @Coach_Conry @TexasTechFB pic.twitter.com/oyqAl68uGA
— Ian Hershey (@ianhershey10) May 13, 2025
Hershey will compete with Upton Bellenfant and Stone Harrington for the right to be the Red Raiders' primary kicker this season.
Bellenfant was the favorite to be Tech's kicker prior to the spring. A transfer from Buffalo, he was a third-team All-MAC honoree after making 18-of-21 field goal attempts and 31-of-31 extra-point attempts.
Meanwhile, Harrington is a dark-horse candidate to win the job. A junior from Colleyville, he's never attempted a field goal for the Red Raiders, but his strong leg has earned him the opportunity to kick off from time to time.
Both Harrington and Bellenfant struggled in the spring game last month, though. That left doubt as to whether or not the Red Raiders were set at the kicking position.
What's more, with the potential for decreased roster limits this fall due to the House Settlement with the NCAA, a player who can both kick field goals and punt could be valuable because he would allow the Red Raiders to keep from dedicating a roster spot to a specialist who does only one of those jobs.
Thus, Hershey is going to have every opportunity to help the Red Raiders. Though bringing in a kicker is not a glamorous move, it could pay dividends because having options at that position is essential given the up-and-down nature of college kickers.
On Sunday, McGuire posted to X the .GIF of a strutting Rick Flair which McGuire uses to signal that a player has committed to the Red Raiders. He also wrote in that post, "Roster Complete".
Since Hershey is the only player to announce his commitment to Tech since then, we can assume that McGuire was referencing the kicker when he sent that post out. Thus, it appears that Hershey is the final roster addition the Red Raiders are going to make for 2025, and who knows, he could wind up being a sneaky-important pickup given the situation the team faces at kicker.