Versatile Larry Worth III making smooth transition to Arkansas

FAYETTEVILLE — Larry Worth III is set for his first season at Arkansas after transferring in from Jacksonville State.

Worth played two seasons at Jacksonville State. The 6-foot-4, 224-pound Worth had 63 tackles and four sacks in 13 games last season. The move to Arkansas is one he’s glad he made.

“It’s been great, the transition has been great,” Worth said. “My teammates have helped me a lot with the transition and it’s just been a great time, a great switch.”

Worth is playing some safety, Hog and linebacker in his short time with the Hogs.

“I’m used to kind of moving around a little bit, so wherever I can help the team at, that’s where I’m best at,” Worth said.

Count Ben Sowders, Arkansas’ strength and conditioning coach, among those most impressed with Worth.

“He’s a freak,” Sowders said recently. “Got to find a spot for him. I mean, he can run, I’m excited to see his opportunity during camp. But he’s a very versatile player in my opinion. I think he could do a lot of different things. He moves well, he’s explosive, he’s powerful on his film. When we watch him as a coaching staff, he’d strike and hit you. So, I think it’s still to be determined because he wasn’t here with us during the spring. So, seeing all the stuff that he’s gotten better at, taking it to the field and seeing, ‘okay, where are we gonna find a spot for him.’ But, very, very competitive.

“Like I said, kudos to Coach (Sam) Pittman, our whole coaching staff. I mean, we did not miss on one player in the portal. And I’ll say it again, we did not miss one kid in the portal. From adding to our program, making our program better, making it competitive, guys that play with passion, guys that hold each other accountable, that’s what we missed last year.”

Worth was asked if those testing numbers opened some eyes?

“I definitely do,” Worth said. “I knew what I could do, I just had to prove it. Show everyone else.”

Worth talked about the first position he played at Jacksonville (Fla.) Baldwin High School.

“So I originally started out, I played receiver coming out of high school,” Worth said. “But I ended up going in as a walk on at Jacksonville State at nickel. Then I kind of transitioned and started playing some safety a little bit and that’s when they could kind of just see my versatility. So ever since then I’ve just kind of been versatile, playing a little bit of everything.”

As odd as it seems now, Worth went from being a walk-on player at Jacksonville State to an SEC player with the Hogs. He talked about why he started out a non-scholarship player at Jacksonville State before being placed on scholarship.

“The reason I walked on at Jacksonville State is I sustained a (knee) injury my senior year of high school,” Worth said. “So I was kind of a late bloomer in that process. I kind of fell late in that recruiting process, so I kind of got overlooked a little bit. But Jacksonville State came in late and I kind of took that grind path that we were just talking about earlier and I showed what I can do.”

Worth picked off a Malachi Singleton pass on Thursday during the scrimmage.

“I was at boundary safety, and it’s just something we’ve kind of been harping on and just looking at just reading the RPO and kind of just making a play from there,” Worth said.

The defense recorded eight interceptions on Thursday during the scrimmage.

“I think we started out great,” Worth said. “We played great. Just something we’ve been harping on, because, first scrimmage I feel like we kind of started a little bit slow, so that’s something we’ve been- You can’t go into games, these big-time games, starting out slow. You’ve got to come out the gate swinging. So that’s something we kind of really harped on, the turnovers. That’s how you win games.”

Worth reflected back on being recruited out of the portal after being lightly recruited out of high school.

“It was just like a full-circle moment because I didn’t really get to receive it coming out of high school,” Worth said. “So it was kind of like I felt new and like a rookie almost, being like a full-circle moment. So it kind of felt good.”

Worth talked about who recruited him out of the transfer portal.

“Some SEC schools, a lot of schools from different conferences, but Arkansas just felt really good,” Worth said. “Felt like home. Coach T-Will and Coach Pitt felt like a great fit.”

Worth also talked about the bigger differences in Arkansas and Jacksonville State.

“Just everything is a lot bigger,” Worth said. “Not even football-wise, but just facilities and resources. You get a lot more resources that are greater.”

Worth and the Razorbacks will return to the practice fields Saturday at 12:25 p.m. as the season opener on Aug. 29 grows nearer.