Michigan State football's Aidan Chiles already showing 'swagger' and California cool

EAST LANSING — Even before Michigan State football's spring practice started, new coach Jonathan Smith said it would be “an upset” if Aidan Chiles isn’t the Spartans' starting quarterback this fall.

For some, that would amp up the pressure on their shoulders. For Chiles, who followed Smith from Corvallis, Oregon, to East Lansing for that opportunity, it is just a good example of the bond the two built in the recruiting process and their time together last season at Oregon State.

“I don't really think about it too much,” Chiles, a second-year sophomore transfer, said Tuesday in his first public comments since joining the Spartans. “I came here to compete, I came here to play football.”

Chiles exudes a California cool as you watch him sway his way through practice to the music bumping from loudspeakers that got blown over during a windy outdoor session Tuesday morning. Or how he engages with and leads his teammates with the Spartans. Even down to how his 6-foot-3, 213-pound frame, in his No. 2 white jersey, seems to stand out, head and shoulders above his teammates with how he carries himself.

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If there is pressure, Chiles said he learned to deal with it entering his true freshman season last year with the Beavers.

“I mean, I don't feel it,” he said. “I felt it last year for no reason. Like, at all. Last year, I was in a slump during fall camp, just because I was trying to keep a job that I didn't have. But this year is real different. I learned how to manage that. I mean, obviously there's pressure. I know there's pressure. But at the same time, I've learned how to deal with that and get over it and just play my game.”

Chiles signed to play for Smith out of Downey, California (a suburb of Los Angeles), in December 2022. He enrolled at Oregon State a month later, expecting to play right away after graduating high school early.

Smith and his staff had added Clemson transfer DJ Uiagalelei as the early signing period closed, however. Uiagalelei arrived in Corvallis with 28 career starts and took over the No. 1 job upon arrival, starting every game in the Beavers’ 8-4 season.

In hindsight, Chiles said he appreciates the opportunity to slowly develop into an on-field role last fall.

“It was very important. I'm glad I did it,” he said of getting those reps. “But I'm also glad that I didn't start as a true freshman, simply because if I didn't have DJ there, the growing pains would have been way worse than what they were. And now, me adapting to what I've had to adapt to, I'm glad I had DJ there leading me and guiding me so that I can be ready for this right now on this stage.”

Smith gave Chiles his collegiate baptism by mostly playing him every third series behind Uiagalelei (who has since transferred again, to Florida State). Chiles was 24-for-35 passing (68.6%) for 309 yards and four touchdowns, and also ran 17 times for 79 yards and three touchdowns.

Chiles admits he needs development still.

“I don't know how it's gonna look during fall camp,” Chiles said. “My ability to have amnesia last year compared to this year, I want to see the difference. I want to see the growth. And I also just want to see the maturity in myself. Last year, it was difficult for me to mature, simply because I knew I didn't have that starting role. So I was trying to play the role of a backup. But at the same time, I wasn't doing everything I needed to do to be the backup. So if something did happen, I wouldn't have been prepared as I should have been.”

Chiles' debut came against San Jose State in the Beavers’ opener; he then got the ball for most of the second half in a blowout win over FCS-level UC Davis. After not playing in OSU’s next two games, Smith told Chiles he would begin his every-third-series rotational play behind Uiagalelei against then-No. 10 Utah.

“He was young and he was the backup and came and played in some drives, but I love the way he carries himself with the confidence that he plays with,” said new MSU offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren, who, like Chiles, followed Smith from Oregon State. “Kind of a free spirit, where if he has a bad play he can just move on to the next. He does that better than any young guy that I have been around. The confidence, the swagger, the ability to focus.”

Chiles said Smith talked to him when the rumors of the coach taking the MSU job started emerging. That, along with the rapport they developed last fall during camp and the season, helped make his decision to leave Oregon State with his coaches.

“When I heard it, I asked him about it. He talked about it. He couldn't say too much, and I understand,” Chiles said of Smith. “But the process of me actually getting here, it was a very easy decision for me. That's my coach. I committed to Oregon State as a program at first. And then throughout the entire freshman year, I had conversations with coach Smith the whole time, and we just got closer, a closer bond. And he's my coach. So that's why I followed him here. …

“I wouldn't be here right now — in Michigan right now — if it wasn't for coach Smith and the conversations we had prior to this.”

Three months into his time at MSU and four practices into his time as a Spartan, Chiles appears to be adjusting well — even the blustery outdoor practice Tuesday and weather fluctuations have not kept him from enjoying his new environment and teammates.

Chiles also has made sure to take care of those who are expected to take care of him, taking MSU’s offensive linemen out to eat at one of the nicest steakhouses in the Lansing area and picking up the tab.

“The early impressions of Aidan is he's a good dude,” junior right guard Geno VanDeMark said. “He's a fun guy, a funny guy to be around. He's great for us in the locker room.”

Smith also brought in quarterback Tommy Schuster after the graduate transfer started most of the past four years at FCS-level North Dakota. Two true freshmen, Ryland Jessee and Alessio Milivojevic, also enrolled in January and are pushing the two as the Spartans go through their 15 spring practices heading into the April 20 spring showcase event at Spartan Stadium.

According to 247 Sports' rankings, Chiles arrives at MSU as the No. 7 overall transfer and the No. 2 QB tranfer this offseason. The four-star prospect from the recruiting class of 2023 was rated No. 12 at QB and the No. 152 overall recruit in 247 Sports' composite rankings coming out of high school.

“Aidan's got a really cool personality,” Lindgren said. “It's something we're always looking for in recruiting a QB, is that moxy, that kind of 'it' factor that we talk about. … He's one of the more talented guys I've been around. Infectious personality, the way he carries himself on the field. Those are the things I get from him. All the big-time guys I been around with had those same traits.”

Yet despite that vibrant persona, Chiles also has a down-to-earth humble side. He said he was taken aback to hearing his name being chanted at Breslin Center during an MSU basketball games he attended this winter.

“I don't like that,” he said with a laugh. “I mean, it's cool, but it wasn't in the right setting. You know? If it was football, it's different. If we were playing, it's different. It was a little weird, but it was cool.”

The next time he might hear it will be at Spartan Stadium in front of more than 70,000 fans. Smith's debut season is Aug. 31 against Florida Atlantic.

Until then, Chiles said he’s trying to keep things in perspective and focus on self-development, along with helping the Spartans mend from last year’s tumultuous season and prepare for the new regime.

“I feel it. I mean, these guys would have stayed if they didn't feel it,” Chiles said about the positive vibe with the coaching change. “So I'm happy with the guys we have, and I think we're gonna do big things this upcoming fall.”

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football's Aidan Chiles already showing 'swagger'