‘Always a race’: How Rueben Bain Jr., Akheem Mesidor have driven Miami and each other

Akheem Mesidor and Rueben Bain Jr. are usually found in the same location. They first met during a visit to Miami in 2022, when Mesidor was in the transfer portal and Bain was a sophomore in high school. Now teammates, they are inseparable, even when they are in opposing backfields and ambushing quarterbacks.

But between the two of them, the biggest debate is which of them will get to the QB first.

“It’s still a race at quarterback between me and Rueben,” Mesidor said.

Within Miami’s program, teammates and coaches say it’s the fiercest of constant competition between college football’s best pair of edge rushers, ranked as the No. 2 (Bain) and No. 3 (Mesidor) defensive ends in Mel Kiper Jr.’s 2026 NFL Draft rankings.

At the Greentree practice facility in Miami, in the team hotels, in the weight room, anything and everything is a contest with virtually no separation between them, even their jersey numbers. For Mesidor, who wears No. 3, and Bain, No. 4, everything always revolves around the two. Who can train first? Who stays on the field last? Who watches the most movies? Who works harder? Who recorded higher GPS speed in practice? Who did the most reps in the weight room? Who was first on the straight?

“They’re really annoying,” said defensive back Keionte Scott, whose interception and 72-yard touchdown return against Ohio State propelled the Hurricanes to a 24-14 victory in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals at the Cotton Bowl. “You see the production on Saturday, but you don’t see them going at it and slapping each other in the face and hitting each other’s helmets. But seeing them compete on a daily basis, how they push each other and the rest of the team, it’s very exciting.”

The ultra-competitive pair fueled a Miami defensive line that short-circuited opposing offenses in the playoffs. They combined for 10 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks (three by Bain) against Texas A&M. Mesidor added 11 rushing runs, the second-most ever in a CFP game, and Bain blocked a field goal.

“We just couldn’t get them away from us,” Texas A&M coach Mike Elko said.

They followed that clinic with a total of eight tackles – 3.5 tackles for loss – and 3 sacks against Ohio State.

Miami coach Mario Cristobal envisioned a team built exactly like this. The former Hurricanes offensive lineman got his start in the profession as an O-line coach. His plan to rebuild the Hurricanes began from the inside out, emphasizing dominance at the line of scrimmage on both ends. He told his former boss, Nick Saban, during an interview with ESPN that he took lessons from the dynastic coach. “You told us all the time, ‘Mass kicks ass,’” Cristobal said.

Francis Mauigoa, Miami’s 6-foot-6, 335-pound All-America offensive tackle who goes against both players in practice, describes them as equally powerful but with slight differences. “Bain, he’s talented,” Mauigoa said. “Mesidor, he’s fast and nervous.”

But they speak the same way. Mesidor and Bain try so hard to compete, he says, that Mauigoa and the entire line benefit. The toughest competition on the offensive line comes in practice. The Hurricanes are ninth in the FBS in sacks allowed, allowing just 1.07 per game.

“It’s the best D-line we’re going to play all year, especially from a pass rush standpoint,” Miami offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson said. “We’re elite at pass blocking. We refine our tools against people who are really, really good at rushing.”

Bain arrived in Miami as the No. 69 prospect in the 2023 ESPN 300, the No. 7 defensive end nationally and was the Hurricanes’ highest-rated defensive recruit in the class. He was already a legend in the 305 after leading Miami Central to four state championships with 77 career sacks. He announced his arrival by becoming the 2023 ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year with 44 tackles, 12.5 for a loss and 7.5 sacks and became a vocal leader.

Mesidor, on the other hand, comes from much more humble beginnings. As a high school player in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, he played linebacker and went to a camp in Michigan to try to prove himself. During one-on-one drills, he lost three reps in a row, and his coach took him aside and told him that if he lost one more, he would be done with the linebacker position.

“The next rep, I lost it,” Mesidor said. “He sent me out with the D line and stuck my hand in the dirt. I never took it out.”

Mesidor transferred to Clearwater Academy International in Florida for his senior year, significantly raising his profile with 92 tackles and 10 sacks and becoming a four-star prospect by ESPN before signing with West Virginia. He was second-team All-Big 12 during his freshman year, but did not make the all-conference team as a sophomore. He was traded to Miami, then was told the Hurricanes were hiring former Miami Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor to coach him. Mesidor, who didn’t watch much football in Canada, wasn’t moved.

“I said, ‘WHO?’” he said, laughing. Then he looked him up on YouTube and realized he was a Hall of Famer. “Damn, he was a baseball player,” he said.

Taylor has been coaching Mesidor, a sixth-year senior, for four years now, and Bain for three years. He said they are both extremely intelligent, but he can train them hard because they are relentlessly determined to excel.

“They stay together on the road. They train together at home,” Taylor said. “They obviously work together on the grass. They eat together. Everything they do is with each other. That’s always something. But they get intense too and they start screaming every once in a while. I think it’s the classic iron-sharpening-iron story.”

This year, the 6-foot-3, 270-pound Bain was a consensus All-American, the ACC Defensive Player of the Year and finished the regular season with 37 tackles, 4.5 sacks, a forced fumble and an interception despite drawing significant attention from the offensive lines, even earning Heisman buzz during the season. Mesidor, 6-3 and 265 pounds, was first team All-ACC with 46 tackles, 12 sacks and 4 forced fumbles despite playing one less game.

Together, they finished second nationally among defensive end pairs in sacks (19) and pressures (119) behind Texas Tech’s David Bailey and Romello Height.

Every spot in the weight room is a source of contention between Mesidor and Bain. Except the squat rack, where Mesidor concedes to Bain, who he says can hold 640 pounds. “I will never put that on my back,” he said.

But according to advanced metrics from ESPN Research, Mesidor has the advantage over Bain in several categories:

• Pressure percentage: Mesidor 14.3%, Bain 14.0%

• Time to first press: Mesidor 2.66 seconds versus 2.71 for Bain.

• High Speed ​​Yards, or the total number of yards a player runs faster than 16 miles per hour: Mesidor 118, Bain 83

• Maximum speed in mph: Mesidor 18.0, Bain 16.3

Bain counters: “Our sports science tracks explosive outbursts and our players charge every game,” he said. “Every game I tell them I had the best.”

The two are both considered first-round picks, with only Auburn’s Keldric Fault projected ahead of them on the defensive end. They are so close in many ways, Bain said, that competition has become a compulsion. This is a sibling rivalry. They are never comfortable. Never relax.

Scott said the duo’s intensity is contagious, fueling a culture of competitiveness for the entire team. Mauigoa said they even recently threw new passing moves at him, surprising him. Cristobal said a big part of their legacy is the standard they set for younger players with their relentless habits in practice — or anywhere.

“If we could somehow compete in the hotel business, we would,” Bain said. “If you’re having fun, you’ll forget you’re competing. We don’t realize we’re improving.”

Against Ole Miss in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl (7:30 p.m. ET Thursday, ESPN), quarterback Trinidad Chambliss poses a true dual threat, a moving target for Bain and Mesidor to track.

Chambliss, who rushed for 580 yards and 8 touchdowns this year, didn’t give up a sack to Georgia and eluded the Bulldogs’ pass rush on several big plays in a 39-34 victory, throwing for a career-high 362 yards and two touchdowns.

The Hurricanes know they are going to fight. But then again, it’s an everyday thing in Miami. Mauigoa said he knew from experience that Mesidor and Bain would run toward Chambliss all night.

“You better be ready,” he said. “We have two dogs chasing them, ready to chase the quarterback.”

Bain worked for this moment, a Miami kid who grew up dreaming of returning the Hurricanes to football royalty. On Aug. 31, he and Mesidor joined on the podium after crushing No. 6 Notre Dame’s hopes with back-to-back sacks, one by each, in the Irish’s last-ditch effort to preserve a victory that was likely the resume booster that got Miami into the CFP.

The two men foreshadowed this playoff series by answering questions from journalists side by side. They talked about staying late at practice every day and working with Taylor, doing two-minute drills every day in the summer heat, staying up late at night and discussing game strategy in group chats.

“When the lights are on, it’s cool outside, and when the time is right, we’re going to take care of it,” Mesidor said. “3 and 4 all day.”

“All day,” Bain replied.

Andrea Adelson and Jake Trotter contributed reporting.