Alabama linebacker DeMeco Ryans earned unanimous All-America recognition and the SEC Defensive Player of the Year Award for the 2005 season. Now the coach of the NFL’s Houston Texans, Ryans can’t help but wonder what might have happened if he’d come along just a little later.

Ryans joined the Crimson Tide just after the NCAA had put Alabama on five years of sanctions that included a two-year bowl ban.

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The Tide posted a 30-20 record during Ryans’ four seasons and won one bowl.

Since Nick Saban arrived as Alabama’s coach in 2007, the Tide has posted a 199-28 record, won eight SEC championships and captured six national championships.

“It crosses my mind a lot,” Ryans said during an appearance on “Pardon My Take.” “I end up saying that a lot: ‘No, I was before Saban.’ I helped them get on track, right? And then Saban came and took off, for all the foundation that I laid.

“But, no, I wish I was there with those guys, for sure. But I had a couple of teammates who were freshmen my last year, who actually ended up being on a team with coach Saban, and those guys raved about coach Saban.

“Coach Saban has done an outstanding job, of course, and he’s been very gracious to me anytime I go back to the University of Alabama. I’m always watching those guys, always rooting them on. Been an Alabama fan since I was a young kid, so that never changes. I’m all in on Alabama football and really proud of the success that they’ve had.”

An All-State linebacker at Jess Lanier High School in Bessemer in 2001, Ryans also received the Lott IMPACT Trophy for the 2005 season as a senior at Alabama. (IMPACT stands for integrity, maturity, performance, academics, community and tenacity.) He capped his college career as the Defensive MVP of the 2006 Cotton Bowl in Alabama’s 13-10 victory over Texas Tech.

A second-round choice in the 2006 draft, Ryans started his 10-year NFL career as the league’s Defensive Rookie of the Year as Houston’s middle linebacker.

The Texans chose Ryans as their head coach after he’d worked the previous two seasons as the San Francisco 49ers’ defensive coordinator.

After losing 13 games last season and its first two games this season, Houston defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 37-17 on Sept. 24 and the Pittsburgh Steelers 30-6 on Oct. 1 in its past two games.

In addition to hiring Ryans this offseason, the Texans used the second selection in the 2023 NFL Draft on Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud and the third choice on Alabama pass-rusher Will Anderson Jr.

“It’s been nothing but amazing and a blessing,” Stroud said about playing for Ryans during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show.” “Somebody who has done it before and has played at a high level and has been in the organization, you can’t write that up. You have to live that. And for him, he’s been nothing but a blessing to all of us. He understands what we’re going through on a daily basis.

“And I don’t want to say that he doesn’t seem like a head coach because he is. He’s hard on us; he holds everybody accountable. But he’s really like a brother of ours, and people want to play for him is what I’m meaning.”

Anderson is among the four Alabama players picked in the past two NFL drafts by Houston, along with wide receiver John Metchie III and linebackers Christian Harris and Henry To’oTo’o.

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“Will is a beast for sure,” Ryans said about Anderson. “We have to slow him down. He wrecks practice all the time, so we have to slow him down. …

“Even last week, we’re trying to get these looks to get the linebackers, the safeties the proper fits on some run plays, and he just goes and destroys the play, so I’m like, ‘Hey, man, take him out so we can actually get some work in.’ Will has done a great job.”

Houston will try to reach a 3-2 record when the Texans face the Atlanta Falcons at noon CDT Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. In each of the previous three seasons, Houston had one victory after five games.

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