Raul Aguirre picked up the Georgia Bulldogs hat, looked at it for a second and then put it down. He picked up the Alabama Crimson Tide hat and raised it almost all the way to his hat and then, again, he put it down. Finally, he reached across the table, picked up the Miami Hurricanes hat, put it on and threw up the U.
Miami’s incredible run of commitments hit a third week Tuesday with Aguirre’s double-fakeout announcement at Whitewater in Fayetteville, Georgia. The four-star linebacker is the seventh blue-chip recruit to commit to the Hurricanes’ Class of 2023 in the past 16 days — giving Miami the No. 7 class in the country, according to 247Sports’ team rankings — and Miami made the addition it by winning another national recruiting battle for an out-of-state prospect.
The Hurricanes also beat out the Florida Gators, Arkansas Razorbacks and Ohio State Buckeyes to land the 6-2, 220-pound outside linebacker. Although he hasn’t yet taken an official visit to Coral Gables, Aguirre is originally from Miami and his father played at Columbus, where coach Mario Cristobal and offensive line coach Alex Mirabal also went to high school. He also took multiple unofficial visits to the school earlier this year.
Aguirre is the No. 9 linebacker in the 2023 recruiting class and the No. 121 player overall, according to 247’s composite rankings. Even though the Hurricanes have landed commitments from four top-100 prospects in the past three weeks, Aguirre is one of the their biggest pickups of the 2023 recruiting cycle so far because of how badly Miami needs to restock at linebacker.
The Hurricanes have only signed one blue-chip linebacker in their last three recruiting classes — freshman Wesley Bissainthe — and just two in the past six and neither has started a game yet at Miami. Aguirre is poised to be the highest-ranked linebacker to sign with the Hurricanes since Shaquille Quarterman, who’s now with the Jacksonville Jaguars, in the Class of 2017.
As a junior, Aguirre was highly productive, piling up 80 tackles, three tackles for loss, a sack, an interception and a fumble recovery, plus two catches for 30 yards and a touchdown, in just eight games.
With Aguirre’s pledge now sending Miami’s impressive run of commitments into a third week, this is becoming much more than just a good stretch for Cristobal and Co. It’s now turning into a great summer and, really, potentially a great cycle.
The Hurricanes’ seven new blue-chip additions in the last three weeks — quarterback Jaden Rashada, wide receiver Nathaniel Joseph, tight end Riley Williams, tackle Francis Mauigoa, edge rusher Jayden Wayne, athlete Robert Stafford and now Aguirre — are the seven highest-ranked prospects in the Hurricanes’ 2023 class, and Miami is hoping to add at least a few more four- and five-star players before the end of the month. Five-star safety Joenel Aguero, four-star linebacker Malik Bryant, four-star safety Jayden Bonsu and four-star interior lineman Payton Kirkland are all major Miami targets with a commitment dates set for later in July.
