Jonathan Smith’s acclaimed young quarterback, Aidan Chiles, will be following his former coach to Michigan State.
Chiles is planning to continue his college career at Michigan State. His decision provides clarity to what could’ve been a murky quarterback situation for the Spartans after their three scholarship quarterbacks entered the transfer portal after the season.
A former four-star recruit with three years of eligibility remaining, Chiles emerged as one of the most desirable players in the transfer portal. He was considered the No. 2 overall player in the portal and top quarterback prospect, according to 247Sports rankings.
Chiles, who’s listed as 6-foot-3 and weighs 212 pounds, is an athletic playmaker with good mobility and a strong arm with a high upside. He’ll be a foundational piece for Smith and new offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren to build around. He also can provide immediate help to Smith’s staff by being a recruiter who can entice talent to come to East Lansing.
Chiles showed glimpses of star potential in his limited playing time at Oregon State this season.
Playing behind starter D.J. Uiagalelei, Chiles completed 68.6% for 309 yards with four touchdowns in his nine appearances. He didn’t throw an interception in 35 attempts — a stat that’s likely music to Spartan fans ears. Chiles also added 79 yards on the ground and three rushing scores.
One of Chiles’ highlights from 2023 includes a third-and-16 completion to receiver Anthony Gould that saw the ball fly nearly 60 yards in the air.
Chiles’ dual-threat capabilities should provide a spark for a Michigan State offense that struggled mightily last season under former offensive coordinator Jay Johnson. It also helps that Chiles already has an established relationship with the staff as well as a year of familiarity in Smith’s offensive system.
The Spartans’ quarterback carousel rotated from Noah Kim to Katin Houser five games into the season. Sam Leavitt also was in the mix as Houser’s backup, but sat out the final few games of the season in order to preserve a year of eligibility.
The instability of the quarterback situation — as well as several notable injuries to the offensive line and wide receiver and running back corps — hampered Michigan State’s ability to find any sort of rhythm on offense.
As a result, the Spartans averaged 15.9 points per game, the fewest in the Big Ten. Michigan State recorded 288.5 total yards per game, the 13th-worst mark in the league. The Spartans didn’t make up much ground in with their run game either, averaging only 88.5 yards rushing per game.
Kim, Houser and Leavitt already decided the 2023 season would be their last at Michigan State. Kim and Leavitt already found new homes at Coastal Carolina and Arizona State, respectively. Houser hasn’t identified his next school yet.
Chiles was among the pool of prospects who were part of the first official visit to East Lansing under Smith’s watch last weekend. Three-star running back Makhi Frazier and three-star tight end Wyatt Hook were also part of that group and verbally committed to Michigan State on Tuesday afternoon.
Chiles is expected to enroll immediately and arrive on Michigan State’s campus in early January. He can play as soon as next season.
His decision to follow Smith to Michigan State shows an added level of commitment and trust in the coach who identified him as a promising player out of high school. In fact, Smith recruited Chiles to Oregon State over Leavitt, who was named 2023 Oregon Football Player of the Year.
In the aftermath of Smith’s hiring, Leavitt told Rivals.com’s Spartans Illustrated that he was “done” with Michigan State and subsequently entered the transfer portal earlier this month. Leavitt also reportedly said there was some lingering “hard feelings” from his recruitment process.
Not that any of that matters now. Smith has successfully brought along the quarterback that he wanted out of high school.
It’s good news, too, for Chiles, who’s already shown signs of growth under his first season with Smith.
Smith has a proven track record in developing quarterbacks, including the Cincinnati Bengals’ Jake Browning, who said it helps that Smith has firsthand experience of playing the position and finding success.
Browning recently told The Detroit News that Smith helped alleviate the pressure he felt as the team’s quarterback. He lauded Smith for being “consistently the same guy” when he was coaching Browning as Washington’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
“You’re not dealing with some wild card who’s going to protect his own brand or image and kind of throw you under the bus to get the next promotion,” Browning told The News in a phone interview. “I always felt like if something went wrong and even if it was maybe my fault, he’d always take the blame for it in the media and take that pressure off of me and in meetings, understanding that, hey this is a tough position and having played it himself in the Pac-12, at a high level, I think he had that understanding that it’s not always black and white for quarterbacks and it’s hard. And I always appreciated that about him.”
Smith is looking for his team to play tough and physical. He wants to institute an innovative offense that isn’t afraid to take chances and he spoke after his introductory press conference earlier this month about having high hopes for the team’s future.
“We are going to run a style of play that the quarterback can have some real success,” Smith said. “I think being the starting quarterback at Michigan State is an unbelievable opportunity and that opportunity is there for who’s in our locker room starting in January.”
Chiles is in line to be that guy for Michigan State.
@madkenney
