Immediately following the spring game, Pete and I hosted a live CanesInSight/Canes Connection podcast at Titanic. We were privileged to sit down with the best pass rusher in the nation, DE Rueben Bain. Below is transcript of the interview, also available on video above:

Peter: What a season last year. Now, you’ve got to come back this year and do it all over again, right?

Rueben: I want to start off by saying thank you for having me. Like you said, starting all over again. That's the process of football, though. Every year you do something. Next year you come up and forget about last year and keep working. That's something I've been preaching my whole life. Something Coach Taylor has been preaching often. I just forget everything that happened last year. It don't matter. Now it's time for a new path.

D$: Some people say, “Rueben, put him in glass for the spring.” But I've seen you working separately with Jason Taylor and Jared Harrison-Hunte and a couple of guys. What was your goal this spring as far as getting better?

Rueben: My goal was to lose a couple pounds. But other than that, just go every day into practice and work. Most people that have a little success early on get complacent. But I have much bigger goals. I'm always going to work, no matter if it's practice or the game. I'm never going to take no plays off. I'm never going to feel like, “Well, I shouldn't practice today.” Every day I wake up, it's a day to get better. I never take it for granted.

Peter: It’s been a year-plus since you made your decision to come to University of Miami. You could have gone anywhere in the country. Why was it that you decided to stay home?

Rueben: My decision was the best decision I ever made. I couldn’t get this anywhere else. The support I get from my family, my friends, the community, the city is just second to none. “Made in Dade. Stayed in Dade.” Everything I do is to wake up and be better and try to get the program back the way it needs to be.

Peter: We saw the video when you won ACC Freshman of the Year with Coach Cristobal. It meant a lot to you, but to him also. He said from the beginning you were going to be a cornerstone for getting this place back to where it needs to be. So talk a little about your relationship with Coach Cristobal.

Rueben: I put all my trust in Coach Cristobal. He's not only a great coach, but a great person. He pushes me every day, and he always has my back no matter what. I never had a shadow of a doubt in my mind of the plan he had for me. Whatever he says I'm going to do, because I trust him. I give him my all every day.

If he tells me to run through a wall, I'm going to run through a wall, because I believe that he’s got a reason for me doing it. Coach Cristobal, he's been putting his trust in me since day one. Now that I'm here, all the work that we put in is coming to the light.

D$: When I was coming up, it was always Northwestern number one and Central was number two. That's changed quite a bit the last decade. How did Central become such a dynasty?

Rueben: It's the culture. I used to go to Central practices when I was a kid, when my older brother was on the team with Dalvin Cook and all of them. I'm just in the weight room watching them, how they work out, how they grind, and looking up to all the older dudes. I feel like that's something that was built over the years.

Once they turned the corner finally in that 2010 run, it never stopped. It’s a standard. Everybody lives up to the standard. No matter if you're a quarterback, a kicker, even the water girls, they all uphold to the standard. It’s just a way of life on 95th.

D$: I remember watching your brother (OT Reggie Bain) in high school and wanting Miami to recruit him because he was so athletic. Obviously, he had an injury (hip injury at FAU) that kept him from fulfilling his potential. How has that relationship impacted you?

Rueben: It boosts me every day, honestly. Just being that little brother that always wanted to be around my big brother. I was always in his shadow. He went through some tough times, but we all stood together as a family. Everything he did, I wanted to emulate. I'm lost for words right now. That's my big brother. I love him. Anything he do, I want to do, even to this day (Bain is a staff member for the Hurricanes).

Peter: When he was playing, and you now, who's winning that rep?

Rueben: I got it a thousand percent. I’m gonna tell him every time, I got it.

D$: You’ve played end and tackle. What's different playing inside as opposed to playing outside for you?

Rueben: Everything happens a little quicker. It's a high percentage of getting doubled and chipped, getting some slides coming your way. You’ve got to play a little more hungry inside. You’ve got to have a little different dog to you. I’m willing to play all four positions if I have to. Anything that has value to me, I'm all for it. I'm not going to shy away from anything or any kind of work. I'm always going to go towards it. Anywhere they put me, I know I'm going to do the job and get the job done.

Peter: How excited are you to work with the defensive line group?

Rueben: I'm so excited for this upcoming year. It's crazy. We're all finally back healthy. We’re strong. We’re bonded together. We've been here going on two years now. Just the chemistry we got in the room. If anybody's texting in the chat, “Hey, I'm going to go watch some film,” you’ve got almost the whole D-line pulling up to watch film just because we’re so bonded.

I'm excited to see what's going to happen this year because if we’re that close off the field, I can’t imagine what's going to happen on the field.

D$: We just had Cam Ward on and we talked about the pressure from former Canes and everyone else. You’ve got it twice as much because you're from here. So you have cousins, uncles, friends really putting that pressure on. What’s it like for you as someone who's the face of the program to have the whole community looking at you and giving their opinion?

Rueben: At times it can be tough if you think about it, but I try not to. The wise words of my head coach, Coach Joseph, he always told me, “Pressure makes diamonds.” So I'm never shying away from the pressure. I know that the pressure is going to make me a better person, a better football player, but also a better young man. I just put my head down to work, stay close to my brothers, my team, and we’re all sticking with what we got together.

Peter: What's it like going up against this offensive line in practice every day?

Rueben: Just last week, we were doing one-on-ones and I got pancaked twice back-to-back by Samson (Okunlola). Anybody could get it, really. Everybody's talented on both sides of the ball. So we’re going at it every day. That last Saturday practice, we’re throwing blows, we’re fighting, we’re cussing at each other. Tensions get real high, but that's what's needed. Coach Cristobal always says, “Iron sharpens iron.” So when we go on Greentree, we’re going all out. Nobody’s holding anything back. We know that at the end of the day, we're getting each other better. Once we get in the locker room, we’re kicking it and dancing with each other.

D$: I know you've had some great coaches, but I'm sure a lot of your lessons started at home. Talk to me about your family and what they instilled in you and allowed you to be sitting here where you're at.

Rueben: I’ve got a real huge family. Being around my family, it was about showing resiliency. No matter what it is, stay together and push through. Always believe in God, put God first, hear God and do it the right way. With the chemistry I had at home, I knew how to take it to other people, help other people, and always look out for each other. That's what helped me at home, and I just translate that into the real world, and everything works out in my favor, God willing.

Peter: The Central pipeline to Miami is starting to get built a little bit now. Armondo Blount coming in as the young guy. Talk about his development and how you're trying to kind of take him under your wing a little bit and show him the ropes.

Rueben: He's a little banged up right now, coming in from high school. Everything I do, I try to bring him with me. He’s a young guy (turned 17 last month). Everybody knows he graduated early. He's like a little sponge.

Everybody around the facility says he's my little brother. I told him just the other day, “Man, if you’re serious, you could make history and be the youngest Freshman All-American ever. You just turned 17. If you just stick to the program and work, you're going to make history." I'm just trying to open up his eyes so he can see that.

D$: We’ve talked a lot of football. Most of your time is spent off the field. Not in practice, not in the workouts. What are some of your passions off the football field?

Rueben: Actually, a lot of people don't know this about me, but I major in photography. I've been doing it for about the last seven years. It's something that I'm really interested in. Before it was just typical sports, but I took a couple classes when I first got here in the spring, and I kind of see myself falling into the landscape area with the nature, everything like that.

In my free time, if I'm not doing nothing, just sitting around my dorm, I draw. I'm a real artistic guy.

D$: Rueben, appreciate your time, man. I know everybody here is really grateful that you chose Miami. And it's not just the player. It's what you represent. If we’re going to build something sustainable, it's going to be with people like you. Thank you.