Rueben Bain had big freshman season for Hurricanes. ‘There’s more in store,’ he said
What Rueben Bain accomplished last season as a Miami Hurricanes freshman is already in the rearview mirror.
ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year? Doesn’t matter.
Freshman All-American? Means nothing at this point.
A team-high-tying seven-and-a-half sacks and finishing second on the team with 12.5 tackles for loss? Throw it out the window.
“I’m just preparing myself for what’s to come next,” Bain said. “I know there’s more in store. I’m not getting satisfied in what happened last year.”
Bain has established himself as a legitimate up-and-coming defensive lineman.
But he knows he can’t rest on his laurels on a solid first season. He has to remain in the present as he works to get even better going into his sophomore campaign with the Hurricanes.
“I have a mind-set of just being where my feet are,” Bain said. “I know that today’s going to make me better for tomorrow, so I try to focus on what’s happening right now, not too deep into the future.”
That can be tough considering the hype and praise he is receiving. Bain has been named a preseason All-ACC selection and is on preseason watch lists for the Bednarik Award (given to the top defensive player in the country) and Lombardi Award (given to the top offensive or defensive lineman in the nation).
“His ceiling is off the roof,” linebacker Francisco Mauigoa said. “He’s an amazing individual off the field and he’s a phenomenal football player. The things that he did last year, that was just the beginning. That was just a glimpse of what he can do.”
Bain’s thoughts on those accolades?
“It’s something I very much look forward to, especially awards of that caliber, but at the end of the day, it means nothing at the same time,” Bain said, “because if I don’t live up to whatever the expectation is, it means nothing. If I don’t go and play my best, it means nothing. The watch lists, it’s just like a nice pat on the shoulder. You still have to go out, put the work in to get the actual awards. So it’s like — thank you for looking out for me, but I know what the bigger picture is.”
That bigger picture is helping the Hurricanes get back to relevance. Miami went just 7-6 last season in Bain’s first season with the program. Expectations are high for UM this year — the Hurricanes are ranked No. 19 in the preseason AP top 25 poll and were projected to finish third in the ACC behind Florida State and Clemson.
To do that, Bain is ignoring the outside noise and the chatter about his individual potential. He’s channeling his focus into what he can do every day to better hone his craft.
“I try to be the same person no matter what the situation may be,” Bain said. “I can say it’s a little different now, but I just try to keep football as football, make it simple as I possibly can be and just try to be the same person that I was last year.”
Bain has had help to get to this point.
Look at his relationship with defensive lineman Akheem Mesidor. The two formed an instant bond once Bain arrived on campus. Mesidor’s season was derailed by injuries to both of his feet early in the year. When Bain took Mesidor’s starting spot as a result, Mesidor did everything he could to help Bain thrive.
“He helped me a lot. That was my main guy, especially when I first got here,” Bain said. “He was the person who was always teasing me, but in a positive manner. He was always trying to help me. He wasn’t a guy that could have been the bad dude. … He knows I’m behind him; I’m the young guy with all this hype around him, and I feel like in his spot, he could’ve been a guy that was just an A-hole and turned his back. But he wasn’t. He was the person that leaned on me and helped me the most out of everybody.”
Mesidor’s perspective on the relationship?
“Seeing Rueben come in last year, just by the way he practices, you could see his hunger,” Mesidor said. “He’s a guy who loves to play. He’s a student of the game, and I love that about him. As soon as he came on campus and I saw all these different things, I tried to be by his side as much as I could. Especially when I went down, I knew that he was next up. So I just wanted to be there for him, and just made sure anything he needed, any questions he had, just feel free to ask me that can help him to my best capability. We have a tight bond off of that. That’s my guy.”
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