LB Recruit Raul Aguirre Wants to be a Leader for Miami

One of the more physically ready incoming freshmen for the Miami Hurricanes comes from Georgia.

Linebacker Raul Aguirre listed himself at 6-foot-2 and 228 pounds when being interviewed. Seeing him up close, he certainly did not miss any time in the weight room and proved to be an imposing figure.

The chiseled prospect from Fayetteville (Ga.) Whitewater was excited to start his Miami career and took a few minutes to discuss his future with All Hurricanes, as well as why he decided to pick Miami in the first place.

Speaking of his decision, Miami won out over one of the top powers in college football.

“Alabama,” Aguirre said immediately when asked which school came in second for his services.

“They were (No.) 1, at first,” Aguirre said of Alabama with a smile. “After speaking with (Miami head coach Mario) Cristobal…and listen. I’ve dreamed of playing at the University of Miami.

“But with Manny Diaz and all of them back then, I kind of…my dream was still there, but I was leaning towards Alabama.

“Then when Cristobal came in, Cristobal jumped on me. The relationship with me, him, and (former Miami linebackers coach) Charlie Strong, and I was like, ‘man, I want to go play at my dream school.’ So I chose Miami.”

Despite currently living in a town just 30 minutes from Atlanta, Aguirre was already accustomed to living South Florida. Thus, when he took his official visit to The U, everything went well.

“I’ve lived down there my whole life. When I was 10, I moved from down there (in Miami). My whole family is from down there.”

That led to the obvious conversation about Miami’s football facilities.

“Facility-wise, everything was there that I wanted of course. But, the No. 1 thing that I want to say I loved was the fact that Cristobal was trying to bring back the old University of Miami.

“And, when I say bring back, he means bringing in top recruits. I’m going to put it to you like this, you don’t see too many coaches that go through a losing season, and still bring in one of the best recruiting classes.

“So that says a lot about the head coach, a lot about the coaching staff, and says a lot about the school.”

Talking about the overall recruiting class, Aguirre brought up an interesting point about the options that many of the 2023 Miami recruits had.

“Being able to play with dogs. I mean, I’m not the only one that’s picking Miami because I loved Miami. You’ve got (running back) Mark Fletcher that’s picking Miami, and I mean we all had Alabama. We all had Ohio State.

“(Tight end) Riley Williams from IMG Academy. We all could have picked those big schools, and we all chose Miami.”

Aguirre admitted that he’s close with many of the guys that signed with Miami, too.

“This is why I think this class is special. We are all very close. We have a whole group chat. Ray Ray (Nathaniel Joseph) was one of the first ones to set the trend and commit. After he was committed, That’s when we all started to commit.

Whenever someone committed, that’s when that person would get added to the group chat. So, we’ve all had a great relationship with each other. All of us.”

As for his own aspirations, Aguirre has specific goals in mind.

“Freshman All-American. I want to do that. That’s my goal. I want to just be a leader. My natural attribute, I’m a leader. I’ve always been a leader. I want to show people that you can be a freshman and be a leader.”

Aguirre also expanded on that point with his desire to play football.

“It’s football man. I love it. Just being able to do that in my hometown is great.”

Two attributes stood out to Aguirre as to why he believes he can make an impact with the Canes.

“My feet. No false steps. A lineman comes to block me, no false steps to get around him.

“And then on top of that, I’m very versatile man. You can put me against a slot receiver. I know how to take something away. I know how to guard a running back (in space). I can come off the edge and rush the quarterback. I did that in high school a little bit. I’m very versatile.”

Like any young player, Aguirre still needs to continue to grow his game. He mentioned the following area as being a priority to work on, closing on a ball carrier.

“When there’s a running back 10 yards away, I want to get there faster. When I get there, like two yards away, I will break down faster and hit’em in the mouth. So, just closing ground a little faster.”

Lastly, Aguirre was asked what he would do at The U?

“Hey man, I'm going to help bring a championship. I’m not saying that just to say that. Definitely, it’s going to be fun to watch.”

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