Aidan Chiles on Preparation for His Second Michigan State-Michigan Game
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EAST LANSING, Mich. --- Michigan State starting quarterback Aidan Chiles truly learned for the first time what the Spartans' rivalry with Michigan meant when he stepped onto the turf at Michigan Stadium last year.
"Last year, it was way bigger than what I expected," Chiles said Tuesday. "I came from Oregon State with a big rivalry, as well. It was Oregon-Oregon State, and it (MSU-UM) was way bigger than that."
As a quarterback, Chiles will obviously be a critical piece of trying to get Michigan State's offense going again after it only scored 13 points in back-to-back games. Despite being outgained, Michigan won last year's game, 24-17, and is only allowing 17.0 points per game so far this season.
Chiles talked about what this week has been like within the football building on rivalry week, what the offense needs to improve on, and more. A full video of his press conference can be viewed below.
Watch Aidan Chiles here:
A partial transcript that begins at the start of Chiles' press conference has also been provided.
Transcript
Q: Lessons on leadership from high school to being at Oregon State to now. I'm sure you kind of commit to whatever the culture is as far as how to handle adversity. But what's been your personal thing that kind of has carried you through when there's been adversity along the way that you kind of keep and use? If you'd mind sharing a little bit about that.
CHILES: Just emphasizing doing your role. It's not really a, I mean, it is a leadership thing, but at the end of the day it's not really a, you know, just a 'me' thing, it's an everybody thing. You know, just emphasize, you know, letting people know, like, do your role and things will come together.
So, you know, if one guy does his job, then the next guy does his job. Next thing you know, all 11 guys on their job, they come together, and things will look good. So, yeah, just doing your role.
Q: The balance of winning and losing. You get to high praise when the wins happen. How do you balance the other part that comes with it?
CHILES: Everything's the same, everything's neutral. You win, you get back to square one, you prepare for next week. Just prepare for each week the same. And, you know, going each week the same.
Q: We talked about being a little different in terms of messaging this year versus last year's Michigan game. I know it's early in the week, but what do you feel has changed and how much of you as captains talk about things that need to change in terms of directing and channeling some energy?
CHILES: It's been a point of emphasis since fall camp. They talked to us about it early. That was 75 days (away). Now it's five days away, six days away.
They just let us know, this is a big game. This is the games we play for. This is what we wanted all year. And, you know, it's a rivalry game. That's just how you come into it. You know, we got some negative feelings, some positive feelings between the games.
But at the end of the day, you know, they emphasize it really well.
They brought in other people, like a lot of alumni that played in the game before. And, you know, the guys that played in the game last year, we know what it is.
So it's just coming in, you know, treating the game a little different. But at the same time, we still prepare the same.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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