Larry Smith has been tabbed to lead the Arkansas wide receivers by Head Coach Ryan Silverfield.
Smith spent the last three seasons as the wide receivers coach on Silverfield’s Memphis staff after joining the Tigers from UAB.
The Tigers’ receiving corps was led by transfer Cortez Braham Jr. in 2025. Braham Jr. earned First-Team All-American Conference honors after leading the team with 63 receptions for 889 yards and eight touchdowns. Memphis’ top four pass catchers all came from Smith’s room with Braham Jr., Jamari Hawkins (34 catches, 591 yards), Marcello Bussey (24, 253) and Brady Kluse (21, 230) combining for nearly 70% of the Tigers’ receiving yards.
Memphis posted the program’s second consecutive 10-win season in 2024, going 11-2 with a Frisco Bowl win over West Virginia. Roc Taylor led the Tigers and ranked second in the American Conference with 950 yards to earn first-team all-conference honors. Taylor teamed up with Demeer Blankumsee (45 catches, 677 yards) and Koby Drake (39, 484) to form one of the best receiving trios in the league with all three ranking in the Top 25 for receptions and yards.
Taylor picked up Second-Team All-American Conference honors in 2023 thanks to a 1,000-yard season. He caught 69 passes for 1,083 yards and four touchdowns before finishing the season 20th in FBS with 83.3 yards per game. The Memphis offense was explosive, ranking sixth nationally in scoring (39.4 ppg), 10th in passing yards per game (306.5), 14th in total offense (458.5) and 17th in both passing efficiency (154.79) and completion percentage (.667) to help the Tigers go 10-3 with a Liberty Bowl win over Iowa State.
Smith served seven seasons on staff at UAB as the Blazers’ wide receivers coach beginning in 2016. He helped lead the program back to the playing field in 2017 after the program was shut down. UAB played in three bowl games and captured a pair of Conference USA crowns during his tenure.
A former Vanderbilt quarterback, Smith began his coaching career at Jacksonville State in 2013 as a graduate assistant before being promoted to the Gamecocks’ quarterbacks coach. In 2015, he helped turn QB Eli Jenkins into All-American when he passed for nearly 4,000 yards and 36 touchdowns to lead the Gamecocks to the FCS National Championship Game for the first time in program history.
Smith started 27 games at Vanderbilt during his career, helping lead the program back to the postseason in over 25 years in 2008 and again in 2011. He earned his first career start in the Music City Bowl as a freshman with his final start coming in the Liberty Bowl as a senior.
He and his wife, Nichele, have two sons – Tripp and Karter.
The Smith File
Birthdate: February 22, 1989
Hometown: Prattville, Ala.
High School: Prattville HS
College: Vanderbilt, 2011
Family: Wife – Nichele; Sons – Tripp and Karter
Coaching Experience
2013 Jacksonville State – Graduate Assistant
2014-15 Jacksonville State – Quarterbacks
2016-22 UAB – Wide Receivers
2023-25 Memphis – Wide Receivers
Playing Experience
2007-11 Vanderbilt
