Michigan State football QB Aidan Chiles spent his summer beefing up his body — and his brain
- Michigan State quarterback Aidan Chiles has increased his weight to 225 pounds and focused on improving his decision-making for his second season as a starter.
- Chiles acknowledged his tendency to force plays and throw interceptions last season, particularly in the first nine games, but aims to reduce mistakes this year.
EAST LANSING — Aidan Chiles spent his summer beefing up.
Both his body ... and his brain.
Entering his second season as Michigan State football’s starting quarterback, the junior bulked up his 6-foot-3 frame to 225 pounds.
“I’m pretty big now,” Chiles said after the Spartans’ first practice Tuesday, July 29. “I’m feeling big, feeling good. Still feel like I kept my speed and everything.”
That’s the physical side. He also made a concerted mental effort to examine his mistakes from his first fall as a starting quarterback, focusing on working within offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren’s system more and trying not to freelance when things break down.
“Last year, you saw it a lot,” said Chiles, who turns 20 on Sept. 12. “I tried to force things, tried to make a play, tried to run out of the pocket and, instead of just throwing the ball away, I’d run out of bounds or threw a pick. Stuff like that. … But that’s stuff you gotta learn.
“It’s not always a (hands-on) learning experience. Sometimes, you see it happen to another quarterback and you don’t want to make it happen. But other times, you gotta learn on the spot and it is what it is. It’s for sure something you gotta learn, but it takes time.”
MSU went 5-7 last season, Chiles’ first as a Spartan after following coach Jonathan Smith from Oregon State. He completed 59.4% of his throws (192-for-323), for 2,415 yards with 13 touchdowns, and ran 97 times for 225 yards and three more scores last season. He threw 11 interceptions, though all of them came in the first nine games; Chiles did not throw a pick over his final 102 attempts in the final three-plus games. He also lost four fumbles.
Though he continued to express harsh self-criticism – “I didn’t have the best year” – Chiles also said he learned the resiliency needed to continue working and growing toward becoming an elite Big Ten quarterback through his mistakes.
“Every quarterback thinks they’re the best quarterback in the league. Every quarterback, they say they’re the best quarterback in the country and the state or whatever,” Chiles said. “Of course, I’m gonna go out with the mindset thinking I’m the best quarterback. … I’m coming in with the mindset this year that I want to be the best quarterback in the Big Ten, I want to be the best quarterback in the country, of course. But I have to put in the work, I have to do the little things and come in and reduce the mistakes.”
Smith, himself a former multiyear starting QB as a player at Oregon State, said he believes Chiles has laid the groundwork to build toward his aspirations after last season. And he sees those traits rubbing off on the rest of the Spartans as they push to get back to a bowl for the first time since 2021 and compete for their first Big Ten title since 2015.
“I think he continues to be a good teammate. The guys enjoy being around him,” Smith said. “They see how hard he works, how much it means to him. He’s definitely had a year under his belt to continue to grow in that leadership role, because he’s a leader on this team.”
Smith said getting the experience of starting all 12 games after playing in a reserve capacity as a true freshman for the Beavers in 2024 helped Chiles grow in learning the week-by-week preparation needed for a starter.
Chiles has spent the offseason working on seven-on-seven drills with his receivers and also studying his own game film with new quarterbacks coach Jon Boyer. He said it has helped him better understand some of the problems he experienced last season. And to better digest those lessons and work to avoid repeating them.
“The mental side is big with Coach Boyer, and I really love that about him because he’s real tedious about his work,” Chiles said. “When we get up on the board or talk to him, he’s always ready to go – he can talk for hours, and he knows he can, too, but we kind of make fun of him for it. But he’s a great coach, and he always has something to teach. It’s beautiful how much I’ve learned (from) him in the past six or seven months.”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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