Steve Sarkisian opens up about Xavier Worthy's impact, recruitment

Freshman wide receiver Xavier Worthy has emerged in a big way on the Texas Longhorns offense. After bringing in just three receptions over the first two weeks of the season, Worthy broke out for Texas in Week 3’s 58-0 win against Rice. In the game, Worthy caught seven passes for 88 yards and one touchdown.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian is really excited about Worthy’s emergence. He is capable of playing multiple positions on the offense, and Sarkisian said that Worthy is confident and comfortable in his role.

“I think the one thing X has, he’s got a real internal drive about him,” Sarkisian said of Worthy. “He came here with the mentality of, he was coming here to work, he was coming here to learn a system, he was coming here to play. He wasn’t going to wait his turn and he’s earned everything that he’s gotten. I think we’re starting to see the speed factor that he possesses.

“We’re starting to find some ways to get him the ball and he’s comfortable doing that. He’s comfortable moving around playing multiple positions and he plays well with the ball in his hands. The fourth down conversion he broke multiple tackles for an explosive play. A couple of the jet sweep things, he was able to get on the edge. He had caught a back shoulder fade. So, he’s got a pretty wide array of style of play to him. That lends us opportunities to do multiple things with him.”

Worthy didn’t originally commit to Texas

As a junior at Central East High School in California, Worthy had 55 receptions for 992 yards and 16 touchdowns. He also starred in track and field. His 2020 season was canceled due to COVID-19, but Worthy still had plenty of suitors in his recruitment. Worthy originally committed to Michigan before decommitting in April. Less than two weeks later, Worthy committed to Texas.

Sarkisian said that Worthy is a great example of the importance of building and maintaining relationships with recruits, even if you don’t get them originally.

“I don’t know the exact time, I just know I was obviously at the last place and he was a California kid that was my area,” Sarkisian said of recruiting Worthy. “I just remember turning on his tape and he had some qualities about his style; his ability to transition with the ball, his ability to get in and out of breaks, the length that he had, the courage he showed going over the middle for not being the biggest guys. We just started recruiting him and ended up developing a really good relationship with him and his mother.

“I think that in this day and age, especially in recruiting, the relationship building piece is critical. We value it quite a bit in our own program. But also nowadays with the transfer portal, you never know who could circle back. You never know what can happen, and that’s ultimately what happened with him. We wanted him, unfortunately we didn’t get him, but you just don’t burn bridges. You try to wish him the best of luck and you never know what can happen. And then sure enough, a month, two months later or whatever it was, he ended up here and we’re lucky to have him.”

In his original recruitment, Worthy chose Michigan over offers from Washington, Auburn, Georgia, Alabama, LSU, Penn State and others. Now, Worthy’s role is growing quickly on the Texas Longhorns’ offense.