Miami football battling Alabama with Raul Aguirre Tuesday commitment

The Miami football program is battling Alabama for four-star linebacker Raul Aguirre who pushed up his commitment announcement to Tuesday at 3 PM ET. Aguirre will make the announcement at Fayetteville, Georgia Whitewater high school where he attends. Aguirre is the 121st player, ninth LB and ninth in Georgia for 2023.

There are no projections about which program Aguirre will commit to from 247 Sports or Rivals.Com. The On3.Com projections are virtually even. Alabama has a 48.7 percent chance for a commitment from Aguirre per On3 and Miami is at 42.6 percent. The recruitment of Aguirre is between Alabama and Miami.

Aguirre would be the second LB committed to Miami for 2023. Three-star prospect Bobby Washington committed to Miami in March with his brother, four-star WR Robby. A commitment from Aguirre would continue an exceptional recruiting run by Mario Cristobal and the Miami football staff.

The Hurricanes have six commits, all from blue-chip prospects in the last two weeks. Miami has vaulted from a recruiting class ranked in the 40s to an average of ninth currently. The Hurricanes would potentially move into the top five 2023 recruiting classes with a commitment from Aguirre.

Aguirre’s father played at Miami Columbus which is also the alma mater of Cristobal and offensive line coach Alex Mirabal. Miami has mostly built the 2023 class on offense. Cornerback Robert Stafford, edge rusher Jayden Wayne who committed Saturday and Washington are the sole defensive players in the 2023 Miami class.

Aguirre would be the sixth player ranked inside the top 125 of the 247 Sports composite rankings and the eighth blue-chip prospect to commit to Miami for 2023. All but Robby Washington have come in the last two weeks. Miami needs to continue building depth at LB. Four-star LB Wesley Bissaithe signed with Miami in 2022.

Miami also signed Caleb Johnson as a transfer from UCLA during the 2022 offseason. Under co-defensive coordinators Kevin Steele and Charlie Strong Miami is expected to improve its LB play. Strong is also the Miami LB coach. Miami is competing for Aguirre despite not receiving an official visit from him.