Cristobal: Rueben Bain will be ‘one of the best players to go to the University of Miami’

The accolades came in droves for Rueben Bain during his first season with the Miami Hurricanes.

Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Rookie of the Year.

Consensus freshman All-American.

Third-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference.

As Bain gets ready for his second season, the defensive lineman is facing some lofty expectations.

That starts with Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal, who on Wednesday declared that Bain “is going to end up being one of the best players to go to the University of Miami.”

“He is as talented, as driven and as tough as it gets,” Cristobal said. “His best football is ahead of him.”

This comes after Bain played some pretty good football as a freshman.

Bain, a former standout at Miami Central, tied with linebacker Francisco Mauigoa for the team lead last season with 7.5 sacks, which was the second most in college football among freshman defensive linemen behind only Utah State’s Paul Fitzgerald (eight). His 12.5 tackles for loss were second on the Hurricanes (Mauigoa had 18) and tied with Clemson’s T.J. Parker for most in the country among freshmen.

Bain also forced three fumbles, had four quarterback hurries and one pass breakup.

“His ceiling is off the roof,” 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. Man, he’s he’s been showing a lot of tremendous strides. This offseason he’s been working on his craft a lot. He’s been in the weight room and in the meeting room watching film just getting better and getting himself to be the best player he can be. That’s very important for this team to have because you see the younger guys looking up to him and the other guys that are looking at him doing this. It just elevates everybody. It doesn’t only affect him but also affects the people around them.”

Fifth-year offensive lineman Jalen Rivers said the biggest challenge in facing a defensive lineman like Bain, 6-3 and 275 pounds, is his ability to switch up how he rushes on any given play with his combination of speed and physicality.

“There’s no assuming what he’s about to do,” Rivers said. “In that sense, as an offensive lineman, you’re gonna be on your toes a lot. You don’t know what you’re getting. That’s where you gotta just go and attack. He’s very tough to block. He’s very savvy.”

But that doesn’t mean he has reached his potential. Cristobal said there is still plenty of room for development in Bain’s game.

The most important to Cristobal is Bain “sustaining high-level play for four quarters.”

“He’s gotten bigger, stronger, faster,” Cristobal said. “He’s really working on being in elite condition so he can be just as good on play 80 as he is on play No. 1. His leadership ability and his willingness just to do whatever it takes to help the team win keeps growing and growing. He’s awesome to be around.”