Miami linebacker Raul Aguirre has committed to NC State out of the NCAA transfer portal, On3 has learned. He has spent the past three years with the Hurricanes.
Aguirre played in all 16 of Miami‘s games this season, recording 43 tackles and one pass deflection. Across three seasons with the program, the Fayetteville, GA native racked up 77 career tackles, one sack, and one pass deflection. He totaled 10 tackles across Miami‘s four College Football Playoff games.
Advertisement
Raul Aguirre first began playing as a freshman in 2023. He worked mainly as a reserve on defense and a special teams contributor, where he racked up six tackles on the season.
He was much more productive in 2024, starting one game and appearing in nine others. He turned into a key contributor in the linebacker rotation.
During that season, Raul Aguirre logged 27 tackles, 1.5 tackles for a loss, a sack and a fumble recovery for a touchdown. That set him up for his explosion with the national runners-up in 2025.
Prior to enrolling at Miami, Aguirre was ranked as a four-star prospect and the No. 199 overall player in the 2023 class, according to the On3 Consensus. He was the No. 24 linebacker in his class and the No. 17 overall player from the state of Georgia, hailing from Whitewater.
Advertisement
Raul Aguirre can help replace Kenny Soares
The addition of Raul Aguirre should soften the blow of losing another linebacker. NC State linebacker Kenny Soares is headed back to the Big Ten, signing with Michigan State out of the NCAA transfer portal, On3’s Pete Nakos learned. Soares previously spent three seasons at Northwestern.
He transferred to NC State ahead of the 2025 campaign. While with the Wolfpack he put together an outstanding season, racking up 80 tackles, 4.0 tackles for a loss, 0.5 sacks, a fumble recovery and two passes defended.
Kenny Soares first suited up at Northwestern in 2022. He played in four games but ultimately took a redshirt.
Advertisement
He would begin to make a bigger impact from there. Soares played in 12 games for the Wildcats in 2023 and 2024. He logged 37 tackles, 4.0 tackles for a loss, 2.0 sacks, a fumble recovery and two passes defended in 2023. The 2024 campaign was a touch less productive, at 20 tackles, 1.5 tackles for a loss, 0.5 sacks and a pass defended.
On3’s Daniel Hager also contributed to this report.
