Former 4-star linebacker leaving Miami Hurricanes to enter transfer portal

Linebacker Raul Aguirre Jr. for the Miami Hurricanes has entered the NCAA transfer portal.

Aguirre, a former four-star recruit from Fayetteville, Ga., played in all 16 games for Miami this past season and finished with 43 total tackles. He also posted two tackles for loss, recorded one pass breakup and one quarterback hurry.

Linebacker Raul Aguirre Jr. enters the transfer portal

Aguirre was a part of Miami's postseason rotation. Aguirre totaled 10 tackles across the Hurricanes' four College Football Playoff games, including four tackles in the first-round win at Texas A&M. He added three tackles against Ohio State, two more against Ole Miss in the semifinal, then finished with one tackle in Miami's 27-21 loss to Indiana in the national title game.

On the year, his biggest tackle totals came in the season-opening win over Notre Dame and later in ACC play against Syracuse.

Aguirre's career at Miami was trending upward before the move. As a freshman in 2023, he played in all 13 games and logged seven total tackles, largely in a special teams role. In 2024, he appeared in 10 games and recorded 27 tackles with 1.5 tackles for loss and one sack. This season, he took another step forward with 43 tackles while appearing in every game.

Aguirre's decision could have been made, in part, due to the news of LB Mohamed Toure returning for his eighth year of college football. Toure is a seventh-year player who redshirted in 2019, played during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, and lost two full seasons to ACL tears while at Rutgers. A potential 2026 season would be his eighth in college.

Having already been an established rotational piece for a national title contender, and seeing some roadblocks to an increase in playing time, Aguirre most likely wants to move to a school that could give him a bigger role (and he'll probably get just that).