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Rueben Bain joined me on the latest episode of Storm Sessions to reflect on his Miami career. The transcript is below.
DMoney: You’ve had a lot on your schedule with the NFL ahead. Have you had a chance to sit back and reflect on everything you just did, or is it still kind of a blur?
Rueben Bain: I’m still in a blur, man. It ain’t even hit me. It’s so weird not being in practice and not in the report here no more. My fingerprint not working anymore. Cleaned out my locker. So I’m just trying to actually realize this is real, man. I’m not here no more.
DMoney: I’m pretty sure they’ll let you in if you want to come back in the future.
Rueben Bain: For sure. But now I got to find my way to get in the building now, so it’s a little bit different.
DMoney: Let’s go to the beginning. South Florida, growing up down here — what do you remember about those early days?
Rueben Bain: A lot. Running around Optimist Park. Having Mark Richt pull up. All the young coaches just going to young camps. Going to camps at Glades Central. Then fast forward to me actually coaching the camps at Glades Central. Coming here when I was a kid. The picture circulating of me in the weight room when I was younger with my football team. So it’s just crazy how much this program was always in my life in a way.
DMoney: That Malachi Toney picture that went viral — you were at those same camps? I didn’t know that.
Rueben Bain: Yeah, I was. Mark Richt pulled up a couple times. I feel like that was just a local thing that all the coaches did at the time around all the cornerstone little league parks.
DMoney: Were you always a competitor? Your mom told me a story that your cousin learned how to read before you, and then you learned real fast just so you could beat him. Is that accurate?
Rueben Bain: Yeah, it is. We always competed. I always bragged about my first time getting on the bike. I didn’t even know how to pedal. I didn’t have no training wheels or anything. I got it. I didn’t fall or anything. So I’m always trying to compete in some aspect. It’s like with me and Akheem [Mesidor], anything we do, we’re probably competing in it, probably talking about how we’re going to be the best at it or how we’re going to trash talk each other.
DMoney: Your chain that you’re wearing — your grandma — what does she mean to you growing up?
Rueben Bain: A lot. She was a big reason why sometimes I was around the facility, and just a real glue for the family. Somebody that kept everybody sane and in shape. Just a lot. I pray to her before every game, every time I’m running out of the stadium. I wear this same pendant every game and make sure I never leave it, never take it off until it’s time to go out.
DMoney: I know Bain’s a Bahamian name. Were you eating conch growing up?
Rueben Bain: Yeah, I still eat conch to this day, man. Conch fritters, conch salad, conch balls, anything you could imagine. Steamed conch, stewed conch, all that kind of stuff. I got family in the Bahamas. My dad’s getting married next week in the Bahamas.
DMoney: There you go. Congratulations.
Rueben Bain: I’ll be out there again.
DMoney: Going back to the youth sports days, every time I talk to people about you as a youth athlete, I hear more about you as a basketball player than as a football player. Break down your game on the court.
Rueben Bain: I grew up playing basketball all the way until like my eighth-grade year. I was a little rough, so I had to stop. I stopped growing. I had a big growth spurt, and after that I just capsized. Basketball — I could have sworn growing up I was going to be a basketball player. LeBron’s my favorite player, so I’m thinking it’s NBA or nothing. I wasn’t even thinking about the NFL at the time. I was just too rough, man. I couldn’t keep playing. I was always fouling out, always hurting somebody some way, somehow. So I just knew football was my thing for me, but basketball was fun. I played up until eighth grade like I said. I actually played with Bronny [James] growing up. Then I ended up playing travel ball, too. I played for Shabazz Elite. We were like the No. 2 or 3 team in the nation at the time, so it was a real fun experience. It just wasn’t for me no more. I was too rough.
DMoney: On offense were you posting people up, or were you trying to shoot threes and do a little finesse?
Rueben Bain: Nah, I couldn’t shoot at all. I was a big man. I was a post guy. I had some good footwork, so that was my thing. I was either grabbing boards, playing back to the basket, dishing the ball out. I set some good screens. Some really good screens.
DMoney: Do you ever play out here? I know some of these guys — I know Anez Cooper’s always talking about his shot.
Rueben Bain: Yeah, we played a couple times in the gym. I think it was my freshman spring or maybe last spring. We were running fives. It was a couple guys from the football team, probably a good 20 of us. We had our own little teams. At the time it was me, Kaleb Spencer, Jayden Wayne, and I can’t remember the other two, but we were undefeated. We were like 6-0. We were winning by a lot, and it was crazy. Coop said he had a good shot — he didn’t make no shots.I was crossing up Marcellus [Pulliam], everybody. So it was a real fun time.
DMoney: Where did football really come in for you?
Rueben Bain: I always played it, but growing up I never really liked football. I always felt like I was going to be a basketball player. Once I actually kind of matured and developed in the game, that’s when I really liked it more. It was around eighth grade, when I was like 13. That’s when I kind of took it more seriously and started to see, okay, this is the path for me.
DMoney: Were you always a defensive player or did you play both sides?
Rueben Bain: I played O-line and D-line my whole life. I was bigger than everybody, so that was my role. That was my job. Around that 13-year-old year, I think that’s where I really started to like football because I kind of played a position other than what I was always playing. Like tight end or running back here and there. But really I was just stuck on the line of scrimmage some way, somehow.
DMoney: I know your dad’s a football guy. Was he coaching you up at this time?
Rueben Bain: No, he never really did. He coached my older brother, but coaching me, not really. He’d pop out to practice and all the games, but actually coaching, nah. He kind of just watched back from a distance. But I know he coached my brother a couple times.
DMoney: Speaking of your brother [Reginald Bain], for those who don’t know, he was a great football player and somebody I thought could’ve been a pro. Just growing up with him and seeing what he was doing, what did that mean to you?
Rueben Bain: Oh, my main motivation. Seeing him every day, I was trying to be around him and his friends at the time. Whether it be at Central having practice, I’d be riding a bike with him, then coming back and working out with them — at least trying to work out with them some way, somehow. Coming back from their practice, I’m in the living room while they’re playing Call of Duty, 2K, and I’m trying to play too. But when I do, I’m getting whooped left and right. He was just my main motivation, my big role model, somebody I still look up to to this day.
DMoney: For those who don’t know, your brother was involved in a serious car accident while he was at FAU. Thankfully he’s fine, but it impacted his football career. You were young seeing someone you looked at as indestructible go through that. How did that affect you?
Rueben Bain: It was kind of surreal at the time because for me it’s like, man, this guy is indestructible. To see him going in the hospital, seeing your brother in the hospital bed, seeing him trying to relearn how to walk and stuff like that, it’s a little difficult to manage at the time. But to see him come back from everything he had to go through and still go into that following season when he was healthy and still have all the honors he did, it really showed me resiliency. I feel like me having that everyday role model in my life put the right mindset into me. When I go through stuff, I know how to be resilient because it was right in front of me throughout my whole life.
DMoney: You go to Central, and that’s one of the biggest programs down here. It’s not a place where you just roll in and you’re the man. You’ve got to earn your stripes. What was that like for you as a young player?
Rueben Bain: It was different. At first they were going to put me on JV. But then they saw me practicing and they moved me up. I was having fun out there, man, but it was definitely different. You had to earn your stripes. They weren’t just going to hand you anything. So it was something where I learned the process of waiting your turn, staking it out, and going through growing pains. I didn’t start off right away. I didn’t start until my third or fourth game, and I just skyrocketed from there. But those first few games I’m just sitting on the bench. I wasn’t used to it, so it was a little different. I was just waiting, hoping I could eventually get on the field. When I did, I had the chance to make plays. That was just God’s will, and it turned out pretty well.
DMoney: When did you realize, “Hey, I can play at this level?”
Rueben Bain: Actually in practice. One of my first practices when they moved me up to varsity, I was going crazy. That was the first time I learned you can’t touch the quarterback in practice. That’s when I actually kind of understood. I knew what Central was at the time, so of course I was a little nervous when I first got out there. But me actually doing pretty good in practice, I was like, okay, I can hang around.
DMoney: Did you sack the quarterback and they yelled at you?
Rueben Bain: Not sack, but it was a little hit. That’s when I learned I can’t touch the quarterback. I got to stay away.
DMoney: I remember your recruiting process. You were dominant in high school, dominant against IMG, dominant all over the place — but people still talked about your height and your build and all the same stuff you’re probably going to hear again even after dominating college football. When did you first hear people doubting you and trying to put you in a box?
Rueben Bain: It was my ninth-grade year. I was unranked until late 10th grade, going into 11th, and even then it was a real low ranking in my opinion. But I realized all that stuff is he say, she say. People can say what they want, but at the end of the day some people are still going to rebel and do what they want to do at any level they’re playing — high school, college, or the league. My biggest motivation at the time was Aaron Donald because he was the talk of the town being a six-foot D-tackle, only weighing 260, 280, and he was the best in the league. So my mindset was if he could do it, I know I can.
DMoney: We all watched the Jordan documentary where he took everything personal and translated it. Do you have that mentality where you’re not going to say a lot, but you’re going to note what people say?
Rueben Bain: Yeah, I definitely have a mindset like I won’t say nothing first, but I’ll make sure I finish it. Everything that’s said or brought up to me, it’s definitely noted, jotted down somewhere, whether it’s my mind or actually physically. I make note of everything, and I feel like I recognize and peep everything. So once it comes time to actually get the work done, people have to eat their words.
DMoney: You had every option in the country coming out. What attracted you to the University of Miami during the process?
Rueben Bain: At first, before Coach Cristobal got here, I was like, there’s no way. Miami wasn’t doing what it was supposed to do. I thought I was going to go so far for college it was going to be crazy. But once he got here and the relationship I built within that year of him being here — even throughout the trials and tribulations of that season — it was second to none, man. I honestly couldn’t see myself going anywhere else. We built this strong relationship, the trust, the bond, either in person or over the phone. The importance he showed me of this program, of the impact I could have, and the trust and faith he had in me — knowing he could give me all this opportunity to come and change the program — and I feel like that’s what I did.
DMoney: Coach Cristobal gave you the recruiting pitch. Now you’ve been through it and can compare what he told you with what actually happened. Were those two things pretty similar?
Rueben Bain: They’re real similar. Like I said, everything Coach Cristobal told me has happened or is happening, and he never lied to me. Anything he put on the table for me when he first met me, I’ve either seen it or I’m beginning to see it. It’s a crazy opportunity. Sometimes it’s crazy because like that video when he told me I won that award my freshman year and he said, “When you were being recruited, what’d I say? I’m going to change the program around and by December we were going to be flying up to Charlotte.” Boom. Let’s go. That’s the same reaction I still have to this day when I’m finding out stuff. Everything he’s saying now is actually coming to light. It’s different when you’re just saying something and it doesn’t happen. But when it’s actually happening time after time after time, it made me put more trust and faith in Coach Cristobal.
DMoney: One teammate I always kind of associate you with is Francis Mauigoa because you went against him in high school, then both came to Miami together and started battling every day. What was that like?
Rueben Bain: It was crazy. Even to this day it’s still crazy because we had the opportunity to go against each other. It’s not like we play two different positions and never see each other. We go against each other every single day. We got to the point where in one-on-ones, he always says, “If you ain’t going, I ain’t going. But if you going, I’m going.” So it’s a brotherhood that we built that Coach Cristobal allowed us to build, just putting us together and allowing us to feed off each other’s energy and battle. Like he says, iron sharpens iron. That’s Coach Cristobal’s main motto. That’s how we got better and got to this point now, because the same way we worked from our first rep is the same way we worked to our last one. We made a joke because we had our last one-on-one battle. He won it, but I won the first one. We couldn’t be too mad, but we battled in any phase, in anything.
DMoney: The next battle will be on an NFL field, and you guys are probably going to be competing over who gets drafted first. Just thinking about that, coming in as teenagers and now going into the draft as men, how cool is that?
Rueben Bain: It’s super cool, man. Knowing we’re both going to be dressed to the nines and walking into the green room with a good feeling, a good vibe about the day, knowing this is all we worked for the last three years. From not knowing each other to knowing each other so well and loving each other as a brother and being brothers — just the bond and trust and relationship we built from competing. It’s so crazy that a game could build a relationship like that. You’ll never think of it until you actually do it. From South Florida and American Samoa, two totally different places, next thing you know God put us in a direction where our paths crossed and we’re going on this path together.
DMoney: Another guy from a different part of the world, Akheem Mesidor. He was already here when you got to Miami, and now you guys are known together as one of the best defensive end tandems in the country. What has that journey been like?
Rueben Bain: Amazing. Me and Akheem actually came on the same visit when he was in the portal and I was in high school. That’s when we first met each other, but I never thought nothing of it. I just thought he was another guy visiting, and I’m pretty sure he thought the same. But when I first got here, he had been here a year already. He was performing like crazy and having a good year. Then when I got here, he got hurt and had to sit that whole year out. Basically, he was my mentor for the whole year. From pregame talks to watching film to advice to correcting my technique, watching me throughout the game and giving constant feedback. I feel like Akheem helped me be the player I was my freshman year, and that transitioned to my sophomore year and then to my junior year. It’s the same brotherhood and bond we built from competing against each other to helping each other out and just supporting one another. It’s a crazy bond.
DMoney: Your sophomore year brought some adversity. You were a Freshman All-American, then you deal with injury and come back in the middle of the season. How did you deal with that stretch?
Rueben Bain: Just knowing that everything happens for a reason. You can’t rush God’s timing. Understanding that maybe I got hurt for a better cause — who knows? But I feel like it was still a good year either way because anybody that watched the tape could see I was still excelling and my game was still there. Things just happened in a way where it didn’t have the limelight and didn’t have that big spotlight on it, so it was fine. Either way, knowing the injury probably was a setback for a bigger comeback, because you fast forward to this year and now we’re having all this fun, all this expression and emotion in a good positive manner.
DMoney: One thing people know from practice is you’re always doing extra work away from the cameras, a lot of times with Jason Taylor. What’s it been like being coached by him?
Rueben Bain: Amazing. Same work every single day, even with Kheem with me every single day. With JT, it’s constant motivation for us. We went to his house on Christmas and Thanksgiving. We in his closet trying on his jackets, touching his rings, and it’s a statue of his face. Just having a good time and knowing that eventually this is going to be us one day. Before we left for the national championship, I was talking to him and I’m like, “****, man, you going to be old by the time you come to my Hall of Fame induction.” We was just joking around about it, but that’s constant motivation to me knowing he’s in the spot where I want to be one day. He’s got stories and feedback he can tell me for days, and I’m listening every single time he tells me.
DMoney: You’ve also taken that mentor role yourself with younger players, one of them being Armondo Blount. What has it been like trying to bring those younger guys along?
Rueben Bain: It’s crazy because at first I wasn’t the guy to lead vocally. I’d rather lead by example than vocally or physically lead. I’d rather do the right thing and eventually somebody sees where it can get to and just learn from that. But with Armondo and Third [Scroggins], Hayden [Lowe], all those guys coming in, sometimes you actually have to be vocal and talk to people and let them know how to go about certain things. I feel like they learning in a positive way because you can see it from the field. Armondo’s 19. He started in the national championship game and had a good run all year, and eventually that’s going to set him up next year to have that crazy run he needs to do what he wants in life. Same thing for anybody in the same position as Armondo or under Armondo. After the game, we were just appreciating the time we spent with each other because from his first visit here while I was here, talking then and knowing he was coming home and staying home, it’s crazy to fast forward to now. We played for two years together, shared the field, shared the same plays, making plays together, celebrations, all that good stuff. Practice, running out, competing through summer workouts, winter workouts. Then fast forward and I’m leaving the reins for him because when it’s time for him to take over, everybody is going to see who Armando Blount is, not Rueben Bain or Akheem Mesidor.
DMoney: You’ve said you’re not naturally a vocal guy, but during the playoffs the camera caught you giving a speech to the team. What prompted you to speak up there?
Rueben Bain: It just hit me. I was like, speak. I remember talking to one of the alumni, Jerome McDougle. He always said if something’s on your mind, say it. Don’t ever feel like you’ll regret not saying it, being in a moment where you’re like, “I wish I could have said this. I wish I would have said that.” So it was on my heart and on my mind to say it, and I felt like the team just needed it. I know I don’t say much, but bro, we only got 30 more minutes. Thirty more minutes and we get everything we worked for. Them boys didn’t work how we worked. They didn’t feel how we feel. They didn’t cry how we cried. You could see they don’t got the energy we got. They don’t want it how we want it. And it worked out. Eventually we won. We came out and did what we were supposed to do. It was a time where I could have never seen myself saying it at the beginning of the year, because even then I said I don’t really say much. But I feel like people that don’t say much, when they speak, it holds weight more than somebody that’s speaking all the time.
DMoney: When did you realize this defense as a whole had a different level of violence and aggression to it?
Rueben Bain: Once we fully got our full team, I’d say summer workouts. They were doing PLP practices and you got guys in our jerseys running around trying to hit people, and we ain’t even got helmets and shoulder pads on yet. So I understood the excitement. Some people were just happy to be back on the football field. Looking back at stuff as we watched film, it was like, this might be the team to do it. This might be the team where we get so far. And we were. We got to the highest point and had that brotherly bond, really trusting each other and getting the job done.
DMoney: I’ve got to ask about the notepad. I’m not going to ask about the words on it, because it’s a family show. But is that something you’ve been doing since high school?
Rueben Bain: That’s a newer thing. It was really more of a mindset I had, but it was something I jotted down. I didn’t think it was going to be as big as it was. But yeah, it’s something I always had in myself and in my mindset. You’ve got to have that kind of mindset playing football, at least at this position and on this stage.
DMoney: You’re not just a football player. I know photography is something you’re into. You even took your sister’s prom pictures. How did that come about, and what do you like about it?
Rueben Bain: I don’t even know. My dad, he’s a graphic designer, so I feel like that creative mindset came from him. But I’ve been doing it since I was 12, so it’s been like nine years now, me just taking photos. I’ve had a camera in my hand. There were times in high school where we had this cameraman for the team, and I’d be done with practice and just snap pictures throughout practice. Or the games I didn’t play, I’d be on the sideline taking pictures with his camera while he was filming and recording. Somehow, somewhere, I always had a camera in my hand when I could. I just enjoyed it. I feel like it’s art. I’m an artistic person. I just like to express myself in certain ways.
DMoney: You mentioned something bigger than photography too — directing a movie. That’s a real goal for you?
Rueben Bain: Yeah. My real dream is to at least direct one movie before I pass away or before life is over and I’m retired and stuff. That’s my whole life goal.
DMoney: What kind of movie would it be?
Rueben Bain: I hate scary movies, but I want to do a horror movie. I hate scary movies, but really I’m more of a sci-fi guy, action kind of guy. So I know for sure if I could do that, I’d do that. I actually wrote a play in high school with one of my classes. It didn’t really get off the ground too much, but it was just a project we did and had fun with it.
DMoney: What was it about?
Rueben Bain: It was called The Game. Two kids, but like different versions. One was a rapper and one was a football player. I kind of forgot all the stuff about it, but that was the main gist.
DMoney: Were you writing the football part from your own experience?
Rueben Bain: Yeah, I put some input in there trying to make it as realistic as possible so people could actually relate and gravitate toward it.
DMoney: The way you play — so hard, so physical, so violent — something has to drive that. What drives you to work the way you do and play the way you do?
Rueben Bain: Honestly, just wanting to be the best at what I do. Knowing I want to leave stuff better than how I found it. Wanting people to know me forever from the impact I put on the game of football. Like you said with the Jordan documentary, just taking everything personal. That’s my mindset. You’ve got to have that constant fuel, that constant drive to get better, because now you get lazy and relax. You can never get lazy and relax. Always setting a new goal for yourself. Knowing that when a man has no goal, he gets lazy, and that’s not good.
DMoney: You play the game like it’s angry football. In your head are you actually angry out there, or are you calm?
Rueben Bain: Calm, cool, collected. I think I’m a calm, cool, and collected kind of person. I have a good time on the field, smiling, having a good time unless somebody says something to get me ticked off. But other than that, I’m just enjoying the game of football and having a good time. I don’t even listen to real hyped-up music. I’m more of a chill, mellow guy. I listen to surreal, slow, calm music. The song I listen to every game is about that.
DMoney: What is it?
Rueben Bain: “Hometown Glory.”
DMoney: Adele?
Rueben Bain: Adele.
DMoney: So you really calm down before these games.
Rueben Bain: Yeah. Real chill. I listen to a lot of old school songs. Frankie Beverly, Ronald Isley. Then I might switch it up a little bit and listen to Lil Wayne here and there. But for the most part it’s chill, slow songs. I don’t really like to get too hyped up. People probably see me bobbing my head and stuff, but half the songs are from the ’70s or something like that. It’s real slow.
DMoney: We got a popular question from the fans about jerseys. What was your favorite uniform combo?
Rueben Bain: I don’t know. This year I loved the orange on white. Since we wore it so much, I can’t not like it. But the green on white was my favorite combo. We never even got the chance to wear it this year, but that was my favorite combo since I’ve been in college. I really liked how it fit and how it looked my freshman year, the style and material of the jersey. But I like this year’s style with the orange and white.
DMoney: What was it like seeing Miami become the team everybody was talking about? Growing up, people talked about the old Canes. Now you helped make it that program again.
Rueben Bain: Crazy, because growing up Miami was good, but it wasn’t the school to be talking about. Alabama was on its run. You had Clemson, LSU, schools like that, so everybody was talking about Alabama, Alabama, Alabama. The older people in my family always talked about the old Canes or the ’80s. My uncle and his team used to talk about how they were in the ’80s and stuff like that. Having the chance to come make my own story so I know that 10 years from now people are going to be talking about the 2025 Miami Hurricanes and how we were flying around and having a good time, physically playing violent — it’s a good feeling. Knowing that I got to come into the program and kind of flip it around and help project it in the right direction.
DMoney: Looking back now, what was your favorite moment as a Hurricane?
Rueben Bain: I can say that Clemson game my freshman year. I was ecstatic. That was crazy. But true fun was Notre Dame — that fourth quarter against Notre Dame was true fun. Flying around, having a good time, enjoying it, smiling. And even in this last game, that was my last game, so I’m going to remember that, and we won it too. But I felt like I was playing my heart out and giving it everything I had, and I was enjoying the time from the first half to the last. I felt like everything happened for a reason. It was a lesson for me, so I enjoyed it.
DMoney: Do you study other pass rushers and take things from them?
Rueben Bain: Yeah. My favorite player is Myles Garrett. I watch any and everything he can do. And Nick Bosa. Those are my top two guys. Eventually I probably watch others too, but Will Anderson in college was my favorite player ever. When he was at Bama, I was watching his highlights every single day. It’s crazy because some kid is probably doing that with me now. But Will Anderson, Myles Garrett, and Nick Bosa are guys I’m always looking at.
DMoney: Does it mean something to you that a lot of kids who might be told they’re too short or don’t have the right build can look at your story and say they can still do it?
Rueben Bain: Yeah, I feel like it means more because when you’ve got the typical guy, it’s just another dude. Me, I’m somebody that’s defying odds and doing stuff that’s really not normal. So my legacy can live on even further because I’m doing something that most people my size or that don’t look like me don’t really do. I feel like that’s the main thing with Aaron Donald. Everybody knows who Aaron Donald is, but the fact that he did it at that size and at that level boosts his story even more. I feel like it’s the same with me.
DMoney: What’s your favorite thing, not just about being a Hurricane, but about being at UM specifically?
Rueben Bain: Just the camaraderie. The level of bond the school has. Walking around campus, there’s always somebody that’s going to stop me trying to speak, and I feel like that’s a connection I can build on because I always take advantage of it. I’m treating everybody the same, whether it’s the CEO or the janitor. I want to give them the same amount of respect I give myself. Just having the opportunity to build connections with good people I know are going to do great things in their own life. The school is small, but it’s intimate. Knowing that anything people are doing, they’re doing with a purpose. They’re actually being genuine about what they have, at least from my interactions.
DMoney: Twenty or 25 years from now, you’ve got the Hall of Fame jacket and JT’s there. Where do you see Rueben Bain?
Rueben Bain: I don’t know, man. I’ll have directed at least one movie by that time. Other than that, who knows? I always say I never see myself coaching, but I love the game of football, so who knows where life is going to take me. But I know for sure I’ll at least have one movie under my belt, if not be in the process of having it.
DMoney: You’ve had a lot on your schedule with the NFL ahead. Have you had a chance to sit back and reflect on everything you just did, or is it still kind of a blur?
Rueben Bain: I’m still in a blur, man. It ain’t even hit me. It’s so weird not being in practice and not in the report here no more. My fingerprint not working anymore. Cleaned out my locker. So I’m just trying to actually realize this is real, man. I’m not here no more.
DMoney: I’m pretty sure they’ll let you in if you want to come back in the future.
Rueben Bain: For sure. But now I got to find my way to get in the building now, so it’s a little bit different.
DMoney: Let’s go to the beginning. South Florida, growing up down here — what do you remember about those early days?
Rueben Bain: A lot. Running around Optimist Park. Having Mark Richt pull up. All the young coaches just going to young camps. Going to camps at Glades Central. Then fast forward to me actually coaching the camps at Glades Central. Coming here when I was a kid. The picture circulating of me in the weight room when I was younger with my football team. So it’s just crazy how much this program was always in my life in a way.
DMoney: That Malachi Toney picture that went viral — you were at those same camps? I didn’t know that.
Rueben Bain: Yeah, I was. Mark Richt pulled up a couple times. I feel like that was just a local thing that all the coaches did at the time around all the cornerstone little league parks.
DMoney: Were you always a competitor? Your mom told me a story that your cousin learned how to read before you, and then you learned real fast just so you could beat him. Is that accurate?
Rueben Bain: Yeah, it is. We always competed. I always bragged about my first time getting on the bike. I didn’t even know how to pedal. I didn’t have no training wheels or anything. I got it. I didn’t fall or anything. So I’m always trying to compete in some aspect. It’s like with me and Akheem [Mesidor], anything we do, we’re probably competing in it, probably talking about how we’re going to be the best at it or how we’re going to trash talk each other.
DMoney: Your chain that you’re wearing — your grandma — what does she mean to you growing up?
Rueben Bain: A lot. She was a big reason why sometimes I was around the facility, and just a real glue for the family. Somebody that kept everybody sane and in shape. Just a lot. I pray to her before every game, every time I’m running out of the stadium. I wear this same pendant every game and make sure I never leave it, never take it off until it’s time to go out.
DMoney: I know Bain’s a Bahamian name. Were you eating conch growing up?
Rueben Bain: Yeah, I still eat conch to this day, man. Conch fritters, conch salad, conch balls, anything you could imagine. Steamed conch, stewed conch, all that kind of stuff. I got family in the Bahamas. My dad’s getting married next week in the Bahamas.
DMoney: There you go. Congratulations.
Rueben Bain: I’ll be out there again.
DMoney: Going back to the youth sports days, every time I talk to people about you as a youth athlete, I hear more about you as a basketball player than as a football player. Break down your game on the court.
Rueben Bain: I grew up playing basketball all the way until like my eighth-grade year. I was a little rough, so I had to stop. I stopped growing. I had a big growth spurt, and after that I just capsized. Basketball — I could have sworn growing up I was going to be a basketball player. LeBron’s my favorite player, so I’m thinking it’s NBA or nothing. I wasn’t even thinking about the NFL at the time. I was just too rough, man. I couldn’t keep playing. I was always fouling out, always hurting somebody some way, somehow. So I just knew football was my thing for me, but basketball was fun. I played up until eighth grade like I said. I actually played with Bronny [James] growing up. Then I ended up playing travel ball, too. I played for Shabazz Elite. We were like the No. 2 or 3 team in the nation at the time, so it was a real fun experience. It just wasn’t for me no more. I was too rough.
DMoney: On offense were you posting people up, or were you trying to shoot threes and do a little finesse?
Rueben Bain: Nah, I couldn’t shoot at all. I was a big man. I was a post guy. I had some good footwork, so that was my thing. I was either grabbing boards, playing back to the basket, dishing the ball out. I set some good screens. Some really good screens.
DMoney: Do you ever play out here? I know some of these guys — I know Anez Cooper’s always talking about his shot.
Rueben Bain: Yeah, we played a couple times in the gym. I think it was my freshman spring or maybe last spring. We were running fives. It was a couple guys from the football team, probably a good 20 of us. We had our own little teams. At the time it was me, Kaleb Spencer, Jayden Wayne, and I can’t remember the other two, but we were undefeated. We were like 6-0. We were winning by a lot, and it was crazy. Coop said he had a good shot — he didn’t make no shots.I was crossing up Marcellus [Pulliam], everybody. So it was a real fun time.
DMoney: Where did football really come in for you?
Rueben Bain: I always played it, but growing up I never really liked football. I always felt like I was going to be a basketball player. Once I actually kind of matured and developed in the game, that’s when I really liked it more. It was around eighth grade, when I was like 13. That’s when I kind of took it more seriously and started to see, okay, this is the path for me.
DMoney: Were you always a defensive player or did you play both sides?
Rueben Bain: I played O-line and D-line my whole life. I was bigger than everybody, so that was my role. That was my job. Around that 13-year-old year, I think that’s where I really started to like football because I kind of played a position other than what I was always playing. Like tight end or running back here and there. But really I was just stuck on the line of scrimmage some way, somehow.
DMoney: I know your dad’s a football guy. Was he coaching you up at this time?
Rueben Bain: No, he never really did. He coached my older brother, but coaching me, not really. He’d pop out to practice and all the games, but actually coaching, nah. He kind of just watched back from a distance. But I know he coached my brother a couple times.
DMoney: Speaking of your brother [Reginald Bain], for those who don’t know, he was a great football player and somebody I thought could’ve been a pro. Just growing up with him and seeing what he was doing, what did that mean to you?
Rueben Bain: Oh, my main motivation. Seeing him every day, I was trying to be around him and his friends at the time. Whether it be at Central having practice, I’d be riding a bike with him, then coming back and working out with them — at least trying to work out with them some way, somehow. Coming back from their practice, I’m in the living room while they’re playing Call of Duty, 2K, and I’m trying to play too. But when I do, I’m getting whooped left and right. He was just my main motivation, my big role model, somebody I still look up to to this day.
DMoney: For those who don’t know, your brother was involved in a serious car accident while he was at FAU. Thankfully he’s fine, but it impacted his football career. You were young seeing someone you looked at as indestructible go through that. How did that affect you?
Rueben Bain: It was kind of surreal at the time because for me it’s like, man, this guy is indestructible. To see him going in the hospital, seeing your brother in the hospital bed, seeing him trying to relearn how to walk and stuff like that, it’s a little difficult to manage at the time. But to see him come back from everything he had to go through and still go into that following season when he was healthy and still have all the honors he did, it really showed me resiliency. I feel like me having that everyday role model in my life put the right mindset into me. When I go through stuff, I know how to be resilient because it was right in front of me throughout my whole life.
DMoney: You go to Central, and that’s one of the biggest programs down here. It’s not a place where you just roll in and you’re the man. You’ve got to earn your stripes. What was that like for you as a young player?
Rueben Bain: It was different. At first they were going to put me on JV. But then they saw me practicing and they moved me up. I was having fun out there, man, but it was definitely different. You had to earn your stripes. They weren’t just going to hand you anything. So it was something where I learned the process of waiting your turn, staking it out, and going through growing pains. I didn’t start off right away. I didn’t start until my third or fourth game, and I just skyrocketed from there. But those first few games I’m just sitting on the bench. I wasn’t used to it, so it was a little different. I was just waiting, hoping I could eventually get on the field. When I did, I had the chance to make plays. That was just God’s will, and it turned out pretty well.
DMoney: When did you realize, “Hey, I can play at this level?”
Rueben Bain: Actually in practice. One of my first practices when they moved me up to varsity, I was going crazy. That was the first time I learned you can’t touch the quarterback in practice. That’s when I actually kind of understood. I knew what Central was at the time, so of course I was a little nervous when I first got out there. But me actually doing pretty good in practice, I was like, okay, I can hang around.
DMoney: Did you sack the quarterback and they yelled at you?
Rueben Bain: Not sack, but it was a little hit. That’s when I learned I can’t touch the quarterback. I got to stay away.
DMoney: I remember your recruiting process. You were dominant in high school, dominant against IMG, dominant all over the place — but people still talked about your height and your build and all the same stuff you’re probably going to hear again even after dominating college football. When did you first hear people doubting you and trying to put you in a box?
Rueben Bain: It was my ninth-grade year. I was unranked until late 10th grade, going into 11th, and even then it was a real low ranking in my opinion. But I realized all that stuff is he say, she say. People can say what they want, but at the end of the day some people are still going to rebel and do what they want to do at any level they’re playing — high school, college, or the league. My biggest motivation at the time was Aaron Donald because he was the talk of the town being a six-foot D-tackle, only weighing 260, 280, and he was the best in the league. So my mindset was if he could do it, I know I can.
DMoney: We all watched the Jordan documentary where he took everything personal and translated it. Do you have that mentality where you’re not going to say a lot, but you’re going to note what people say?
Rueben Bain: Yeah, I definitely have a mindset like I won’t say nothing first, but I’ll make sure I finish it. Everything that’s said or brought up to me, it’s definitely noted, jotted down somewhere, whether it’s my mind or actually physically. I make note of everything, and I feel like I recognize and peep everything. So once it comes time to actually get the work done, people have to eat their words.
DMoney: You had every option in the country coming out. What attracted you to the University of Miami during the process?
Rueben Bain: At first, before Coach Cristobal got here, I was like, there’s no way. Miami wasn’t doing what it was supposed to do. I thought I was going to go so far for college it was going to be crazy. But once he got here and the relationship I built within that year of him being here — even throughout the trials and tribulations of that season — it was second to none, man. I honestly couldn’t see myself going anywhere else. We built this strong relationship, the trust, the bond, either in person or over the phone. The importance he showed me of this program, of the impact I could have, and the trust and faith he had in me — knowing he could give me all this opportunity to come and change the program — and I feel like that’s what I did.
DMoney: Coach Cristobal gave you the recruiting pitch. Now you’ve been through it and can compare what he told you with what actually happened. Were those two things pretty similar?
Rueben Bain: They’re real similar. Like I said, everything Coach Cristobal told me has happened or is happening, and he never lied to me. Anything he put on the table for me when he first met me, I’ve either seen it or I’m beginning to see it. It’s a crazy opportunity. Sometimes it’s crazy because like that video when he told me I won that award my freshman year and he said, “When you were being recruited, what’d I say? I’m going to change the program around and by December we were going to be flying up to Charlotte.” Boom. Let’s go. That’s the same reaction I still have to this day when I’m finding out stuff. Everything he’s saying now is actually coming to light. It’s different when you’re just saying something and it doesn’t happen. But when it’s actually happening time after time after time, it made me put more trust and faith in Coach Cristobal.
DMoney: One teammate I always kind of associate you with is Francis Mauigoa because you went against him in high school, then both came to Miami together and started battling every day. What was that like?
Rueben Bain: It was crazy. Even to this day it’s still crazy because we had the opportunity to go against each other. It’s not like we play two different positions and never see each other. We go against each other every single day. We got to the point where in one-on-ones, he always says, “If you ain’t going, I ain’t going. But if you going, I’m going.” So it’s a brotherhood that we built that Coach Cristobal allowed us to build, just putting us together and allowing us to feed off each other’s energy and battle. Like he says, iron sharpens iron. That’s Coach Cristobal’s main motto. That’s how we got better and got to this point now, because the same way we worked from our first rep is the same way we worked to our last one. We made a joke because we had our last one-on-one battle. He won it, but I won the first one. We couldn’t be too mad, but we battled in any phase, in anything.
DMoney: The next battle will be on an NFL field, and you guys are probably going to be competing over who gets drafted first. Just thinking about that, coming in as teenagers and now going into the draft as men, how cool is that?
Rueben Bain: It’s super cool, man. Knowing we’re both going to be dressed to the nines and walking into the green room with a good feeling, a good vibe about the day, knowing this is all we worked for the last three years. From not knowing each other to knowing each other so well and loving each other as a brother and being brothers — just the bond and trust and relationship we built from competing. It’s so crazy that a game could build a relationship like that. You’ll never think of it until you actually do it. From South Florida and American Samoa, two totally different places, next thing you know God put us in a direction where our paths crossed and we’re going on this path together.
DMoney: Another guy from a different part of the world, Akheem Mesidor. He was already here when you got to Miami, and now you guys are known together as one of the best defensive end tandems in the country. What has that journey been like?
Rueben Bain: Amazing. Me and Akheem actually came on the same visit when he was in the portal and I was in high school. That’s when we first met each other, but I never thought nothing of it. I just thought he was another guy visiting, and I’m pretty sure he thought the same. But when I first got here, he had been here a year already. He was performing like crazy and having a good year. Then when I got here, he got hurt and had to sit that whole year out. Basically, he was my mentor for the whole year. From pregame talks to watching film to advice to correcting my technique, watching me throughout the game and giving constant feedback. I feel like Akheem helped me be the player I was my freshman year, and that transitioned to my sophomore year and then to my junior year. It’s the same brotherhood and bond we built from competing against each other to helping each other out and just supporting one another. It’s a crazy bond.
DMoney: Your sophomore year brought some adversity. You were a Freshman All-American, then you deal with injury and come back in the middle of the season. How did you deal with that stretch?
Rueben Bain: Just knowing that everything happens for a reason. You can’t rush God’s timing. Understanding that maybe I got hurt for a better cause — who knows? But I feel like it was still a good year either way because anybody that watched the tape could see I was still excelling and my game was still there. Things just happened in a way where it didn’t have the limelight and didn’t have that big spotlight on it, so it was fine. Either way, knowing the injury probably was a setback for a bigger comeback, because you fast forward to this year and now we’re having all this fun, all this expression and emotion in a good positive manner.
DMoney: One thing people know from practice is you’re always doing extra work away from the cameras, a lot of times with Jason Taylor. What’s it been like being coached by him?
Rueben Bain: Amazing. Same work every single day, even with Kheem with me every single day. With JT, it’s constant motivation for us. We went to his house on Christmas and Thanksgiving. We in his closet trying on his jackets, touching his rings, and it’s a statue of his face. Just having a good time and knowing that eventually this is going to be us one day. Before we left for the national championship, I was talking to him and I’m like, “****, man, you going to be old by the time you come to my Hall of Fame induction.” We was just joking around about it, but that’s constant motivation to me knowing he’s in the spot where I want to be one day. He’s got stories and feedback he can tell me for days, and I’m listening every single time he tells me.
DMoney: You’ve also taken that mentor role yourself with younger players, one of them being Armondo Blount. What has it been like trying to bring those younger guys along?
Rueben Bain: It’s crazy because at first I wasn’t the guy to lead vocally. I’d rather lead by example than vocally or physically lead. I’d rather do the right thing and eventually somebody sees where it can get to and just learn from that. But with Armondo and Third [Scroggins], Hayden [Lowe], all those guys coming in, sometimes you actually have to be vocal and talk to people and let them know how to go about certain things. I feel like they learning in a positive way because you can see it from the field. Armondo’s 19. He started in the national championship game and had a good run all year, and eventually that’s going to set him up next year to have that crazy run he needs to do what he wants in life. Same thing for anybody in the same position as Armondo or under Armondo. After the game, we were just appreciating the time we spent with each other because from his first visit here while I was here, talking then and knowing he was coming home and staying home, it’s crazy to fast forward to now. We played for two years together, shared the field, shared the same plays, making plays together, celebrations, all that good stuff. Practice, running out, competing through summer workouts, winter workouts. Then fast forward and I’m leaving the reins for him because when it’s time for him to take over, everybody is going to see who Armando Blount is, not Rueben Bain or Akheem Mesidor.
DMoney: You’ve said you’re not naturally a vocal guy, but during the playoffs the camera caught you giving a speech to the team. What prompted you to speak up there?
Rueben Bain: It just hit me. I was like, speak. I remember talking to one of the alumni, Jerome McDougle. He always said if something’s on your mind, say it. Don’t ever feel like you’ll regret not saying it, being in a moment where you’re like, “I wish I could have said this. I wish I would have said that.” So it was on my heart and on my mind to say it, and I felt like the team just needed it. I know I don’t say much, but bro, we only got 30 more minutes. Thirty more minutes and we get everything we worked for. Them boys didn’t work how we worked. They didn’t feel how we feel. They didn’t cry how we cried. You could see they don’t got the energy we got. They don’t want it how we want it. And it worked out. Eventually we won. We came out and did what we were supposed to do. It was a time where I could have never seen myself saying it at the beginning of the year, because even then I said I don’t really say much. But I feel like people that don’t say much, when they speak, it holds weight more than somebody that’s speaking all the time.
DMoney: When did you realize this defense as a whole had a different level of violence and aggression to it?
Rueben Bain: Once we fully got our full team, I’d say summer workouts. They were doing PLP practices and you got guys in our jerseys running around trying to hit people, and we ain’t even got helmets and shoulder pads on yet. So I understood the excitement. Some people were just happy to be back on the football field. Looking back at stuff as we watched film, it was like, this might be the team to do it. This might be the team where we get so far. And we were. We got to the highest point and had that brotherly bond, really trusting each other and getting the job done.
DMoney: I’ve got to ask about the notepad. I’m not going to ask about the words on it, because it’s a family show. But is that something you’ve been doing since high school?
Rueben Bain: That’s a newer thing. It was really more of a mindset I had, but it was something I jotted down. I didn’t think it was going to be as big as it was. But yeah, it’s something I always had in myself and in my mindset. You’ve got to have that kind of mindset playing football, at least at this position and on this stage.
DMoney: You’re not just a football player. I know photography is something you’re into. You even took your sister’s prom pictures. How did that come about, and what do you like about it?
Rueben Bain: I don’t even know. My dad, he’s a graphic designer, so I feel like that creative mindset came from him. But I’ve been doing it since I was 12, so it’s been like nine years now, me just taking photos. I’ve had a camera in my hand. There were times in high school where we had this cameraman for the team, and I’d be done with practice and just snap pictures throughout practice. Or the games I didn’t play, I’d be on the sideline taking pictures with his camera while he was filming and recording. Somehow, somewhere, I always had a camera in my hand when I could. I just enjoyed it. I feel like it’s art. I’m an artistic person. I just like to express myself in certain ways.
DMoney: You mentioned something bigger than photography too — directing a movie. That’s a real goal for you?
Rueben Bain: Yeah. My real dream is to at least direct one movie before I pass away or before life is over and I’m retired and stuff. That’s my whole life goal.
DMoney: What kind of movie would it be?
Rueben Bain: I hate scary movies, but I want to do a horror movie. I hate scary movies, but really I’m more of a sci-fi guy, action kind of guy. So I know for sure if I could do that, I’d do that. I actually wrote a play in high school with one of my classes. It didn’t really get off the ground too much, but it was just a project we did and had fun with it.
DMoney: What was it about?
Rueben Bain: It was called The Game. Two kids, but like different versions. One was a rapper and one was a football player. I kind of forgot all the stuff about it, but that was the main gist.
DMoney: Were you writing the football part from your own experience?
Rueben Bain: Yeah, I put some input in there trying to make it as realistic as possible so people could actually relate and gravitate toward it.
DMoney: The way you play — so hard, so physical, so violent — something has to drive that. What drives you to work the way you do and play the way you do?
Rueben Bain: Honestly, just wanting to be the best at what I do. Knowing I want to leave stuff better than how I found it. Wanting people to know me forever from the impact I put on the game of football. Like you said with the Jordan documentary, just taking everything personal. That’s my mindset. You’ve got to have that constant fuel, that constant drive to get better, because now you get lazy and relax. You can never get lazy and relax. Always setting a new goal for yourself. Knowing that when a man has no goal, he gets lazy, and that’s not good.
DMoney: You play the game like it’s angry football. In your head are you actually angry out there, or are you calm?
Rueben Bain: Calm, cool, collected. I think I’m a calm, cool, and collected kind of person. I have a good time on the field, smiling, having a good time unless somebody says something to get me ticked off. But other than that, I’m just enjoying the game of football and having a good time. I don’t even listen to real hyped-up music. I’m more of a chill, mellow guy. I listen to surreal, slow, calm music. The song I listen to every game is about that.
DMoney: What is it?
Rueben Bain: “Hometown Glory.”
DMoney: Adele?
Rueben Bain: Adele.
DMoney: So you really calm down before these games.
Rueben Bain: Yeah. Real chill. I listen to a lot of old school songs. Frankie Beverly, Ronald Isley. Then I might switch it up a little bit and listen to Lil Wayne here and there. But for the most part it’s chill, slow songs. I don’t really like to get too hyped up. People probably see me bobbing my head and stuff, but half the songs are from the ’70s or something like that. It’s real slow.
DMoney: We got a popular question from the fans about jerseys. What was your favorite uniform combo?
Rueben Bain: I don’t know. This year I loved the orange on white. Since we wore it so much, I can’t not like it. But the green on white was my favorite combo. We never even got the chance to wear it this year, but that was my favorite combo since I’ve been in college. I really liked how it fit and how it looked my freshman year, the style and material of the jersey. But I like this year’s style with the orange and white.
DMoney: What was it like seeing Miami become the team everybody was talking about? Growing up, people talked about the old Canes. Now you helped make it that program again.
Rueben Bain: Crazy, because growing up Miami was good, but it wasn’t the school to be talking about. Alabama was on its run. You had Clemson, LSU, schools like that, so everybody was talking about Alabama, Alabama, Alabama. The older people in my family always talked about the old Canes or the ’80s. My uncle and his team used to talk about how they were in the ’80s and stuff like that. Having the chance to come make my own story so I know that 10 years from now people are going to be talking about the 2025 Miami Hurricanes and how we were flying around and having a good time, physically playing violent — it’s a good feeling. Knowing that I got to come into the program and kind of flip it around and help project it in the right direction.
DMoney: Looking back now, what was your favorite moment as a Hurricane?
Rueben Bain: I can say that Clemson game my freshman year. I was ecstatic. That was crazy. But true fun was Notre Dame — that fourth quarter against Notre Dame was true fun. Flying around, having a good time, enjoying it, smiling. And even in this last game, that was my last game, so I’m going to remember that, and we won it too. But I felt like I was playing my heart out and giving it everything I had, and I was enjoying the time from the first half to the last. I felt like everything happened for a reason. It was a lesson for me, so I enjoyed it.
DMoney: Do you study other pass rushers and take things from them?
Rueben Bain: Yeah. My favorite player is Myles Garrett. I watch any and everything he can do. And Nick Bosa. Those are my top two guys. Eventually I probably watch others too, but Will Anderson in college was my favorite player ever. When he was at Bama, I was watching his highlights every single day. It’s crazy because some kid is probably doing that with me now. But Will Anderson, Myles Garrett, and Nick Bosa are guys I’m always looking at.
DMoney: Does it mean something to you that a lot of kids who might be told they’re too short or don’t have the right build can look at your story and say they can still do it?
Rueben Bain: Yeah, I feel like it means more because when you’ve got the typical guy, it’s just another dude. Me, I’m somebody that’s defying odds and doing stuff that’s really not normal. So my legacy can live on even further because I’m doing something that most people my size or that don’t look like me don’t really do. I feel like that’s the main thing with Aaron Donald. Everybody knows who Aaron Donald is, but the fact that he did it at that size and at that level boosts his story even more. I feel like it’s the same with me.
DMoney: What’s your favorite thing, not just about being a Hurricane, but about being at UM specifically?
Rueben Bain: Just the camaraderie. The level of bond the school has. Walking around campus, there’s always somebody that’s going to stop me trying to speak, and I feel like that’s a connection I can build on because I always take advantage of it. I’m treating everybody the same, whether it’s the CEO or the janitor. I want to give them the same amount of respect I give myself. Just having the opportunity to build connections with good people I know are going to do great things in their own life. The school is small, but it’s intimate. Knowing that anything people are doing, they’re doing with a purpose. They’re actually being genuine about what they have, at least from my interactions.
DMoney: Twenty or 25 years from now, you’ve got the Hall of Fame jacket and JT’s there. Where do you see Rueben Bain?
Rueben Bain: I don’t know, man. I’ll have directed at least one movie by that time. Other than that, who knows? I always say I never see myself coaching, but I love the game of football, so who knows where life is going to take me. But I know for sure I’ll at least have one movie under my belt, if not be in the process of having it.
