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This is the article version of Andres Borregales' podcast interview from Thursday conducted by Brad Tejeda. If you'd like to hear the full audio, *click here*.
After sticking with his Miami Hurricanes commitment for a year and a half, 2021 Champagnat Catholic (FL) K Andres Borregales made things official last month and signed with UM during the early signing period. Now that he’s set to enroll early at Miami for spring ball within the next few days, Borregales talked about some of his goals once he hits campus, including in the weight room with strength and conditioning coach David Feeley.
“I’ve been skinny my whole life, so I just want to go into college and get bigger, faster, smarter,” Borregales said. “I know coach Feeley is going to get me bigger – I talked to him about my weight goal, which is 180, 185, around there. He said he was going to make it happen. I remember when my brother got signed and he first got in there, he said (Feeley) was going to kill me in the weight room. If it kills me, then it’ll only make me bigger and stronger.”
Speaking of Andres’ older brother, Jose Borregales just came off of one of the best seasons in Miami history for a kicker, culminating in him winning the prestigious Lou Groza Award for the nation’s top kicker last week.
“It’s a blessing because I know UM is also his dream school, but unfortunately, he never got offered coming out of high school,” Andres said of Jose. “He had to make the best of what he had – he went to FIU, broke pretty much all of their kicking records. Now he pretty much did the same thing at UM, but only in one year. I honestly think that makes him one of the best kickers in history for the University of Miami.”
After watching all of Jose’s success at the college level, Andres says he’s taken a few lessons from his brother and applied it to himself to try and exceed Jose’s performance.
“It honestly just makes me push harder,” Andres says. “Because I want to be like him, but then that brotherly competition kicks in and I want to be better than him. Not a lot of kickers have that opportunity to have your brother achieving all this in college right before you’re about to go to college, so he teaches me everything I need to know.
“He’s always said that I’m going to be better than him ever since we were little. He always pushed me to be better than him, and that’s what he’s hoping for, for me to be better than him. Whenever we kick, it’s always a competition because we always try to outdo each other. Sometimes I might win or sometimes he might win. Most of the time, especially now, we usually end in a tie, because we just don’t miss.”
Despite his 5’11” 140-pound stature, Borregales has a certain swagger to him that you might not expect from a kicker. Part of that comes with the territory of being considered one of the best kickers in the nation by recruiting services and after dominating national kicking camps, but Borregales feels he’s always had that demeanor, even going back to his days as a youth soccer player.
“I kind of was just born like that - even in soccer, I was always that one player that was very aggressive and always wanted to stand out,” Borregales said. “If there were any pressure situations where we had to make a goal in the championship game or anything, I would always be up for the challenge. In football, I hit a couple game-winners in little league. I never got the chance to kick one in high school, but if I did, I’m pretty sure I would’ve banged that through.”
His longest-ever field goal?
“In practice, it was 65 (yards) and then I missed from 70 like a hair wide right, but it had the distance. In-game, I made a 57,” he said.
After helping Chaminade-Madonna win a state title as a junior in 2019, Borregales transferred to Champagnat Catholic as a senior to assist the Lions in winning the state championship in 2020.
“Honestly, it’s a blessing, because not a lot of high school players get to win back-to-back state championships,” Borregales said. “But down in Dade, we’re a little different. It’s a blessing to be able to play and win that state championship again.”
With Jose set to move onto the next level this offseason, Andres is expected to take over the Hurricanes’ kicking job starting this spring, and the younger Borregales is already dreaming about what his first gameday experience as a Cane will feel like.
“It’s going to be surreal,” Borregales said. “That’s been my dream ever since I was little, just running through that smoke and hearing everybody cheer. Honestly, I might feel a little numb coming out that first time, because I never really thought I would make it, but here we are today.”
After sticking with his Miami Hurricanes commitment for a year and a half, 2021 Champagnat Catholic (FL) K Andres Borregales made things official last month and signed with UM during the early signing period. Now that he’s set to enroll early at Miami for spring ball within the next few days, Borregales talked about some of his goals once he hits campus, including in the weight room with strength and conditioning coach David Feeley.
“I’ve been skinny my whole life, so I just want to go into college and get bigger, faster, smarter,” Borregales said. “I know coach Feeley is going to get me bigger – I talked to him about my weight goal, which is 180, 185, around there. He said he was going to make it happen. I remember when my brother got signed and he first got in there, he said (Feeley) was going to kill me in the weight room. If it kills me, then it’ll only make me bigger and stronger.”
Speaking of Andres’ older brother, Jose Borregales just came off of one of the best seasons in Miami history for a kicker, culminating in him winning the prestigious Lou Groza Award for the nation’s top kicker last week.
“It’s a blessing because I know UM is also his dream school, but unfortunately, he never got offered coming out of high school,” Andres said of Jose. “He had to make the best of what he had – he went to FIU, broke pretty much all of their kicking records. Now he pretty much did the same thing at UM, but only in one year. I honestly think that makes him one of the best kickers in history for the University of Miami.”
After watching all of Jose’s success at the college level, Andres says he’s taken a few lessons from his brother and applied it to himself to try and exceed Jose’s performance.
“It honestly just makes me push harder,” Andres says. “Because I want to be like him, but then that brotherly competition kicks in and I want to be better than him. Not a lot of kickers have that opportunity to have your brother achieving all this in college right before you’re about to go to college, so he teaches me everything I need to know.
“He’s always said that I’m going to be better than him ever since we were little. He always pushed me to be better than him, and that’s what he’s hoping for, for me to be better than him. Whenever we kick, it’s always a competition because we always try to outdo each other. Sometimes I might win or sometimes he might win. Most of the time, especially now, we usually end in a tie, because we just don’t miss.”
Despite his 5’11” 140-pound stature, Borregales has a certain swagger to him that you might not expect from a kicker. Part of that comes with the territory of being considered one of the best kickers in the nation by recruiting services and after dominating national kicking camps, but Borregales feels he’s always had that demeanor, even going back to his days as a youth soccer player.
“I kind of was just born like that - even in soccer, I was always that one player that was very aggressive and always wanted to stand out,” Borregales said. “If there were any pressure situations where we had to make a goal in the championship game or anything, I would always be up for the challenge. In football, I hit a couple game-winners in little league. I never got the chance to kick one in high school, but if I did, I’m pretty sure I would’ve banged that through.”
His longest-ever field goal?
“In practice, it was 65 (yards) and then I missed from 70 like a hair wide right, but it had the distance. In-game, I made a 57,” he said.
After helping Chaminade-Madonna win a state title as a junior in 2019, Borregales transferred to Champagnat Catholic as a senior to assist the Lions in winning the state championship in 2020.
“Honestly, it’s a blessing, because not a lot of high school players get to win back-to-back state championships,” Borregales said. “But down in Dade, we’re a little different. It’s a blessing to be able to play and win that state championship again.”
With Jose set to move onto the next level this offseason, Andres is expected to take over the Hurricanes’ kicking job starting this spring, and the younger Borregales is already dreaming about what his first gameday experience as a Cane will feel like.
“It’s going to be surreal,” Borregales said. “That’s been my dream ever since I was little, just running through that smoke and hearing everybody cheer. Honestly, I might feel a little numb coming out that first time, because I never really thought I would make it, but here we are today.”
