Former Michigan State QB Chiles Commits to Big Ten School
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Don't think Aidan Chiles has completely gone away just yet.
The former Michigan State starting quarterback has reportedly committed to Northwestern. Chiles has one year of eligibility remaining. He'll play for Wildcats head coach David Braun and new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly.
Dates of MSU's 2026 Big Ten games are not out yet, but the opponents and locations are, and "Northwestern at Michigan State" is on there. That sets up a likely battle between Chiles and the person who replaced him as MSU's QB1, Alessio Milivojevic.
We also already know that, barring any injuries, the Spartans will go up against former MSU quarterback Katin Houser next season. He transferred from East Carolina to Illinois, and the Fighting Illini are also slated to come to East Lansing next fall.
More on Chiles
The Chiles era at Michigan State certainly started with a lot of promise. Chiles was a four-star recruit coming out of high school near Long Beach, Calif. He chose to begin his college career at Oregon State alongside head coach Jonathan Smith and offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren. Chiles was the backup to D.J. Uiagalelei as a true freshman, but saw some real game action during that lone year with the Beavers.
Once Smith took the MSU job and brought Lindgren with him, the fit for Chiles in East Lansing almost made too much sense. It would make sense for a young quarterback with considerable upside to follow his head coach and offensive coordinator to a program starting a rebuild. Even though Chiles was near the top of the portal rankings and had options elsewhere, he chose Michigan State.
Chiles' first year in East Lansing was definitely rocky. His very first pass as a Spartan was intercepted, and he ended up finishing with 11 of those on the season, tied for the most in the Big Ten. Chiles also had a fumbling problem and was inaccurate at times.
Many of his faults were accepted, though, because he was still just a true sophomore who began the season at just 18 years of age. He also had flashes of brilliance, like when he led Michigan State to a road win at Maryland in his second game, throwing for 363 yards in the process.
The 2025 season was supposed to be Chiles' breakout year. At first, it was certainly trending that way. Chiles was a little shaky during the season opener against Western Michigan, but he was brilliant again during the second game of the year against Boston College, scoring five touchdowns and not turning it over once en route to a 42-40 double-overtime win.
That was the high point of the season. MSU's offense eventually grew stale and completely uninspiring, which was not completely the fault of Chiles. Still in need of a spark, Michigan State benched Chiles and put in Milivojevic, who performed quite well across the final four games of the season. With Milivojevic having three years left to Chiles' one, the choice on who to keep for 2026 became pretty clear.
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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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