Rueben Bain is aiming to have a dominant junior season after dealing with injuries in Year 2. He met with reporters after practice to discuss his progress:
On the first three practices: Very eventful. A lot of bullets flying. Trying to get adjusted to the new defense, but it's been fun running around with the freshmen, young guys, all the transfers. The new defense has been violent, been fun, been fast, a lot of trash talking, a lot of fights. So it’s been a pretty good way to go in the spring break.
On his offseason conditioning: I lost about 10 pounds, so I'm doing pretty good right now. Just trying to stay on that pace, stay on track a little bit more. Nutrition has been a real big key part this offseason. I’m able to be a little more mobile, more flexible, faster, twitchier. Just be the guy I was in high school and be the original me.
On being invited to the NFL Combine with other 2026 prospects, including Carson Beck and Francis Mauigoa: It was great. I learned a lot about my experience going into the draft. How the combine is going to go, how that process is going to go. They gave us a lot of financial advice, agent advice, film review, what we need to work on and stuff like that.
On Armondo Blount and Justin Scott: Some real savvy guys, eager to learn. They’re in the film room as much as me. They’re in the weight room as much as me. They’re doing extra work as much as me. They’re taking it real serious. They’ve got an extra shot to have some playing time this year and they’ve got the right head on to come in and make an impact.
They don't want to be just rotation guys. They wanna take my spot and that's what I like.
On Hayden Lowe: Oh, that man crazy. He goes a thousand miles per hour at all times. It's something that you definitely need. You got young legs, a young body. He’s going to run around and hit people. And that's what I like. He's going to be a good player.
On the new defense: We've got a lot of more freedom, but overall it's been pretty great. We get to let the D line go and as a team we get to work a little more together.
We pull our ears back and just run and that's all we really want.
On Ezekiel Marcelin: Oh, it's crazy, man, because he keeps following me. We were at middle school together, high school (MIami Central) and now college.
It’s surreal getting to see these guys grow up in front of your face. Like I told him the other day, “Man, you look big as ****.” I [didn’t even know] how much he grew since I left. So getting to see him here and see how he’s been growing in these last two months, it's been amazing.
On the biggest trash-talker on the team: Anez Cooper. He takes that title every, every, every day of the week. He likes to back it up, too. So that's what makes it a little more interesting, but it gets you going.
