As the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers last season, DeMeco Ryans had the stingiest defense in the NFL. When he became the head coach of the Houston Texans in January, Ryans inherited a defense that finished 30th among the NFL’s 32 teams in yards allowed in 2022.

But Ryans has found some things that he’s liked on that defense, such as linebacker Christian Harris.

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“What excites me about Christian is his God-given ability,” Ryans said as the Texans’ offseason program wound down. “There aren’t many linebackers who are as fast and as explosive as Christian Harris is, so that excites me about him – what he’s capable of becoming in this league. He’s capable of becoming a really, really great linebacker. He just has to continue to improve. …

“It’s a process. It doesn’t happen overnight. But he definitely has the right mindset to put the work in to become good at his craft, and I’m excited to see where he is when we start training camp.”

Ryans and Harris played linebacker at Alabama. Ryans joined Houston in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft, and Harris joined Houston in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft.

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“Really just trying to be a sponge,” Harris said about his offseason work with Ryans. “He gives a lot of advice. You kind of already know from when he ran this defense before with a previous team, but I’m just trying to get an understanding of how he wants it to be done. Again, he played linebacker, too, so he has a lot of tips on that.”

Ryans won the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award. Harris missed the first five games of his rookie season because of a hamstring injury.

In the remaining 12 games in 2022, Harris recorded 74 tackles, one sack, six tackles for loss, one interception, five passes defended and one forced fumble, mainly while playing weakside linebacker.

“The range jumps off the tape,” Texans linebacker coach Chris Kiffin said of Harris. “The ability to cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time, he can accelerate. He’s very explosive.

“I think for him it’s taking the next step in his game. He got the chance to play in a number of games as a rookie, so now really getting the new scheme, learning it. I think he’s done a great job.”

Harris said Ryans’ scheme had more similarities with how he had played at Alabama than did the Texans’ defensive system last season.

“I can play a little faster,” Harris said. “I feel like I’m a little more comfortable and reading things on the field and seeing what’s going on.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.