EAST LANSING – Aidan Chiles whisked throw after throw through brisk winds and chilly late-October temperatures.
Only it was Tuesday, the first day in April. Perfect fall football weather.
“Yeah, it's terrible. It's terrible,” the Southern California native said with a grin and chuckle. “But it's a good thing, though. It's really just good. We talk about it – we own the weather around here, and it's something we need to work on, something we need to do.”
Handling the elements also is far down on the to-do list for both Chiles and Michigan State football this spring. Getting more production would be first and foremost, leading to bigger-picture goals like getting the Spartans back to a bowl game for the first time since 2021 and competing for a Big Ten title for the first time in a decade.
MSU went 5-7 in Chiles’ debut as the starting quarterback, his true sophomore season after following first-year coach Jonathan Smith as a transfer from Oregon State. The hope is to build on that in Year 2 and get the Spartans to the postseason for the first time since they finished No. 8 in the country after a Peach Bowl win under previous coach Mel Tucker, his lone bowl game in three-plus seasons.
“We knew we were close, and we just didn't execute the way we wanted to execute,” Chiles said after MSU's seventh of 15 spring practices. “And now we have to do that, like, that's really what it is. There's no sugarcoating it. We have to go out there, and we have to execute how we know we can. …
“I think it's a good wake-up call. Like, yeah, this is how things are gonna be if you don't win. That's just what it is. And we don't want to feel that way again. We know we don't want to feel that way again. It was just something to sit in and soak for a second. And then after that, you just learn.”
Chiles, who played in nine games as an 18-year-old true freshman under Smith with the Beavers, showed flashes of his prodigious talent along with the pangs of his inexperience in 2024. The 6-foot-3, 217-pound junior-to-be completed 59% of his throws (192-of-323 passing) for 2,415 yards with 13 touchdowns and ran 97 times for 225 yards and three more scores last season. Interceptions, however, were a problem, especially early. All 11 of his picks came in the first nine games; Chiles did not throw another over his final 102 ...
