A look at Christian Harris path from Baton Rouge to Alabama

Before football led him on a path out of Baton Rouge, La., Christian Harris used to run with his older brother Tylor and current teammate Dylan Moses up and down the levee alongside the Mississippi River.

Beginning around the I-10 bridge, the trio would snake their way up and down from light post to light post, continuing up to Tiger Stadium and back. As a promising young athlete in Baton Rouge, the presence of LSU is inescapable.

The Harris family still bleeds purple and gold, even if these days they cheer on Christian and Moses at Alabama. Ramona Harris, Christian and Tylor’s mother, attended LSU Shreveport and admits she still supports the Tigers on Saturdays when they aren’t playing the Crimson Tide. Tylor, who attended Wake Forest before playing two years for the Seattle Seahawks, does the same.

So how did LSU lose one of its most promising prospects from right under its nose?

It started with a plan.

***

Football bonded the Harris and Moses households so much that Dylan used to call Ramona “Momma.” That made Tylor the older brother of the bunch. It also made him the role model.

Four years older than Moses and seven years older than Christian, Tylor was the first to begin generating attention from colleges. While Moses marveled over Tylor’s accolades, Christian was initially too young to be swept away by many of his older brother’s athletic achievements.

Instead, he learned from them.

As the younger brother of a nationally-recruited athlete, Christian had a front-row seat to the process. Oftentimes, that came with a few perks. Ramona still remembers the first game Christian attended inside of Tiger Stadium during one of Tylor’s recruiting visits.

“Christian was literally sitting in the stands mesmerized,” she recalled. “This was an energetic little boy, a little boy who was normally all over the place. Christian sat in that stadium and did not move. He was just mesmerized. Between the football team and the student section, he was in awe.”

After a while, the bright lights of college football began to wear off a bit, and Christian’s backstage pass to his brother’s recruitment served more as a learning experience about the wheelings and dealings of college recruiting.

Even before hitting his teenage years, Christian was well versed in recruiting rhetoric. He tagged along in and out of offices and often sat beside his older brother while head coaches made their pitches.

Tylor, who ultimately chose Wake Forest over Stanford and Louisiana Tech, came up with a series of academic and athletic-related questions for each school to help him with his decision. However, he wasn’t the only one quizzing coaches during visits.

“Christian started asking his own questions,” Ramona said. “He was like, ‘So, do you tell this to everybody you talk to?’ I could have gone under a chair at that point, but it was good because he’s a child and he was saying the things that we were thinking.

“He was always aware. He could always see through people and can decipher when someone is telling him the truth.”

While Christian faced a more aggressive recruitment than his brother, he followed Tylor’s analytical approach, refining his questions to better suit his own desires in a program. Big brother was also there to provide guidance on the decision-making process, reminding Christian that he would always have his back no matter what.

“My whole thing with Christian was, ‘Don’t let anybody play you,’” Tylor said. “This is all about you. This is all for you. If you need advice, just let me know, but everything you do moving forward should be about you.”

***

Two fences and a small road are all that separate University Laboratory School’s football field from LSU’s practice facility. Although, the path for Christian to join his childhood team wasn’t quite that clear.

Unlike Tylor, who starred at Episcopal School, Christian chose to attend University Lab on LSU’s campus. There’s an expectation among the Baton Rouge community that its top players will stay home to play for the Tigers. That’s only heightened when they suit up in the shadows of Tiger Stadium. However, in Christian’s case, there was more to the story.

While Christian played wide receiver and defensive back for University Lab, it became obvious that his future was at linebacker. That transition was first brought up during a camp at Louisiana-Lafayette heading into his sophomore year. During the middle of drills, Christian’s father JJ watched as former ULL head coach Mark Hudspeth pulled Christian away from the rest of the receivers. At that point, he knew a change was coming. After a few reps, it was clear the move was a success.

“Coach came over and said, ‘Look, I don’t know how this is going to affect us recruiting Christian, but I’m going to offer him right now as a linebacker,’” JJ recalled. “He said, ‘I know Christian’s got good hands and he can play receiver, but he’s going to be a great linebacker.’”

Alabama assistant Pete Golding agreed. The current Crimson Tide defensive coordinator was so enamored by Christian’s athleticism he told then University Lab defensive coordinator Andy Martin that he envisioned the defender as a future first-round pick. That was followed up by an offer from Alabama the February of Christian’s junior year.

LSU went on to offer a month later. Although, the Tigers initially recruited Christian as an H-back on offense and offered a less certain plan concerning his future.

“Alabama had a clear plan, and they were firm in what they wanted Christian to do,” Ramona said. “LSU, they played it soft. I think that’s the best way I can put it. I think they were trying to figure out how they were going to use him or where they needed him.

“This young man has played there since the seventh grade, and you’re still having to evaluate what you want to do? All I can say is that when Bama came, they never deviated. They said what they wanted from Christian and stuck to that plan. It never changed.”

Despite Alabama’s determination, Christian was still unsure if the Tide was really interested. That ultimately resulted in him holding off on a commitment. While Alabama appeared to lead in his recruitment, momentum shifted following a visit to Texas A&M the following summer.

The Aggies had several familiar faces on their staff, including defensive coordinator Mike Elko and then defensive analyst Tyler Santucci, who both coached Tylor at Wake Forest. It also helped that when Christian and his father arrived on campus head coach Jimbo Fisher and his staff stopped a meeting to take him on a tour of the facilities.

Looking back, JJ says the supposed meeting was staged, but he didn’t have the heart to tell his son. Nevertheless, the stunt worked as Fisher sold Christian on the chance of becoming a difference-maker on a surging Aggies program.

While JJ was less convinced by the pitch, he told his son to follow his heart under one condition: that Christian took the rest of his official visits.

That turned out to be sound advice.

Alabama’s pitch was a little different. According to Tylor, one of the turning points in his brother’s recruitment came when Nick Saban asked him a simple question: “Why wouldn’t you want to play at Alabama?”

“That right there kind of sealed the deal,” Tylor said. “You sit back and think about it, you’ve got the greatest coach in the nation and he wants to put his all into you. If you can’t answer that question, then you know it’s the right place for you.”

Following an Iron Bowl visit to Tuscaloosa, Ala., Christian came to his father with a change of heart.

“I think I messed up, Pops,” he said, referring to his commitment to Texas A&M.

JJ instructed his son to wait a while, telling him if he still felt that way they’d discuss a plan moving forward. Sure enough, a few days later, Christian came up to his father confirming his decision.

Then came the hard part.

JJ informed his son that he’d not only have to call Saban but also reach out to Fisher to inform him of his decommitment. After Christian committed to Saban over the phone, the Alabama coach offered to handle breaking the news to Texas A&M. However, Christian declined, choosing to inform Fisher himself.

“That’s why we want you here,” Saban responded. “That’s character.”

***

While Fisher took the news in stride, the community back home in Baton Rouge was less accepting. Christian heard the usual barrage of insults after committing to the rival Crimson Tide.

While few fans addressed him to his face, he was called a “turncoat” and a “traitor” on several LSU message boards. A few social media posts informed him he’d only ride the bench at Alabama and that he wouldn’t have made it at LSU anyway.

“Texas A&M was a punch in the gut for them,” Ramona said. “The decision to go to Alabama knocked them out.”

Christian was far from the first player Alabama has plucked from LSU’s backyard. Moses, who attended University Lab with Christian before spending his senior season at IMG Academy in Florida, flipped to Alabama from LSU two years prior. That same year, the Tide brought in fellow Baton Rouge native Christopher Allen. Before that, former University Lab alum Tim Williams was signed by Saban in 2013.

“They recruit this place so hard,” said Martin, who now serves as the head coach at University Lab. “They’re in constant contact with the guys. They see someone they like, and they try to go out and get them. They offer such a good product. Coach Saban just does an unbelievable job. He gets guys to the league, and he gets guys in a better position than when they arrived. I think that’s a big attraction.”

Upon Christian committing to Alabama, the Harrises reached out to the Moseses for advice on how to handle some of the backlash. The most useful tip: avoid social media. As for Tylor, he gave his little brother the same message he told Moses when he committed to the Tide.

“It’s all about you,” Tylor said. “You can’t be focused on what anyone else says. That pressure comes from Baton Rouge. It doesn’t come from the school. It doesn’t come from family. We’ll always be with you.”

***

When asked if she’s surprised her son ended up at Alabama, Ramona responded with a quick, “no.”

“I just had this gut feeling that Alabama was where he belonged,” she said. “It’s mother’s intuition I guess. For me, I was always at peace with him being there. Bama just felt like home.”

Five hours away from his family in Baton Rouge, Christian settled in nicely at his new digs last season, earning Freshman All-SEC honors while making 12 starts at Will linebacker. That transition was made easier by Moses, who coached up his childhood friend from the sideline after suffering a season-ending ACL injury last fall.

While Christian enjoyed his successful freshman campaign, the season was bittersweet as he figured Moses’ injury would snuff out the chances of them being able to play together in college. However, that door was reopened last December when Moses elected to forgo the NFL draft and return to Alabama for a final year.

After not sharing the field during their lone season together at University Lab, Christian and Moses have started next to each other in all six of Alabama’s games this season.

“We talked about it after the game (against Missouri),” Christian said earlier this season, “how crazy it was that two dudes from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, growing up with each other and getting to play together against another team at this high level.”

Christian and Moses were set to return to Baton Rouge this week before No. 1 Alabama’s game against LSU was postponed due to COVID-19. Whether or not that homecoming comes about, Christian and his family are happy where his path has taken him.