Couch: Aidan Chiles endured last MSU football season 'over and over' again on film. He's ready for a new chapter.
EAST LANSING — We won’t know for a month or so whether Aidan Chiles has grown into a quarterback who will avoid making critical mistakes on the football field. But you could hear the growth Tuesday — and the lessons he learned last season — as he spoke after Michigan State’s first practice of fall camp.
When asked if he can be the best quarterback in the Big Ten, he didn’t take the bait, like he did a year earlier.
“Every quarterback thinks they're the best quarterback in the league,” Chiles said Tuesday. “Every quarterback thinks they're the best quarterback in the country, in the state, whatever. I mean, of course, I'm going to go out with the mindset thinking I'm the best quarterback.”
He then joked about his comment last year and how it bit him, before offering:
“I want to be the best quarterback in the Big Ten. I want to be the best quarterback in the country. But I have to put in the work. (I) have to do the little things and come in and, you know, reduce the mistakes.”
Chiles, while still just 19, sounds like a quarterback who’s all square with reality, rather than a first-year starter not yet aware that his immense physical gifts won’t be enough to carry the day. He, like you, suffered through his mistakes last season.
“You've seen them. You watch the games, too,” he said. “I mean, there are plays that I come in and I do well. … And there are also plays where I came in and you'd be like, ‘What are you doing?’ ”
Chiles’ junior season is the key to MSU’s football season. He needs his offensive line to hold up better than it did a year ago — “I’ve got a lot of faith in these guys,” he said Tuesday — and for his receivers to be dynamic. The latter seems possible, with sophomore Nick Marsh returning and the addition of a couple notable transfers — “Those guys can go,” he said — but the Spartans will only go as far as Chiles propels them. His arm, his legs, his decisions.
He’s watched every snap back from last season, including the Michigan and Boston College games.
“Too many (times),” Chiles said. “It's been a lot of learning and just digesting the film, deep diving into the film. It was a lot of film, just going back seeing it, seeing it over and over — the mistakes, the interceptions, the fumbles, all of it. It was just seeing it all over and over, like, what could I do different, studying it, trying to see what we can do next year, (how to) come back stronger. And next year's here.”
Chiles talks like someone who had a horrible last season. He didn’t. He made some tantalizing NFL throws and some plays that only a handful of college quarterbacks can make. For half the season, he tried to do too much, to rescue every play. Then he played like someone who knew his mistakes were a problem but didn't trust himself.
He played like a first-year starter who couldn’t rely on the blocks in front of him. He didn’t stick to his reads long enough. He didn’t live to fight another down often enough. Inexperienced college quarterbacks, no matter how physically talented, rarely play efficient football. Michigan is likely to go through this with Bryce Underwood this season, even if he eventually lives up to his billing.
The key is to grow from it. This year, more should be expected from Chiles. MSU’s staff has tried to foster his growth — bringing in four transfers on the offensive line, investing revenue sharing / NIL resources there (in both transfers and returners), hiring quarterbacks coach Jon Boyer, who’s challenged Chiles to improve in how he sees and processes the game.
“The mental side (of the game) is big with Coach Boyer, and I really love that about him. Because he’s real tedious about his work,” Chiles said.
“There's an emphasis on the reads, the decision-making, recognition, getting that ball out of his hand,” head coach Jonathan Smith said Tuesday. “And there's also this balancing act of, he can extend (plays) and create, and so when he goes and does that, when does he pull the trigger and let it go down the field, or it’s, ‘I still don't have anything,’ not making a bad play worse. That's where I'm anxious to see over the next couple of weeks, in practice, when you get to those situations, what it looks like.”
On Day 1, Chiles saw visions of his old self in MSU’s backup QBs — redshirt freshmen Alessio Milivojevic and Ryland Jessee and true freshman Leo Hannan — young players trying to make plays sometimes rather that take what’s there or accept what isn’t.
“Last year, you saw it a lot, I tried to force things, tried to make a play, tried to run out of the pocket, and then, instead of just throwing the ball away (or) running out of bounds, threw a pick. Stuff like that,” Chiles said. “I watched it today — we have young guys out here like Alessio, Riley and Leo, they're all trying to make plays, and, you know, (the ball) popped up in the air — pick. Could have just thrown it out of bounds. But that stuff you’ve got to learn.”
Milivojevic is ahead of the others. If something happened to Chiles, he’s next in line. MSU’s coaches trust Milivojevic enough that they didn’t go get a veteran QB in the transfer portal this offseason.
MSU’s hope is Milivojevic isn’t needed this year, that it’s all Chiles, who put on 20 pounds to help him survive the physicality of the season.
Among Chiles’ strengths is his sweat equity. He’s been through it — the games and the detailed film review. He’s still bothered by the loss at Boston College and his mistakes there, and grateful BC is on the schedule again. So much so that he nearly went too far in explaining why Tuesday.
“To get another opportunity to play the team that — I’m going to be quiet. Hold on. I’m taking a breath. … Yeah, I love seeming that (game) on the schedule, to get a chance for get-back.”
Chiles sounds like a player who’s excited for the chance a lot of “get-back” this season — and to show what he’s capable of. Now with a better understanding of what it takes.
MORE: MSU football coach Jonathan Smith hopes less roster churn brings more wins
Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on X @Graham_Couch and BlueSky @GrahamCouch.