Why Highly Touted QB Chiles Chose Coach Smith, MSU Football

The Michigan State Spartans will look to quarterback Aidan Chiles to turn things around. Chiles could have gone anywhere in the transfer portal, so why did he follow Coach Jonathan Smith to East Lansing?

Michigan State quarterback Aidan Chiles takes the field during the Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 20, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA

Michigan State Spartans quarterback Aidan Chiles arrived in December with a plethora of hype, but it was not long before that he was faced with uncertainty.

Chiles' head coach at Oregon State, Jonathan Smith, was on his way out of Corvallis for greener pastures. The team knew, even though it was only rumored, Chiles told George Wrighster on a recent episode of "The Unafraid Show" podcast.

"We had a meeting with [Smith], and he said, 'We're going to focus on these games.' And nobody believed what he was saying, because they thought he was leaving," Chiles said. "So all the seniors and everybody else there was just like, 'Yeah, he's out of here.'"

Chiles, of course, followed Smith to East Lansing. He said he and Smith had "really gotten close" at fall camp last season.

"So I went into fall camp as a 17-year-old, thinking that 'OK, I got to win this job,'" Chiles said. "So, I do terrible throughout the first six or seven practices, so I'm like, 'Alright.' I go in and talk to Coach Smith, and I don't know, he just really helped me get through that situation. So, me being as close as I was with Coach Smith, after that we just got closer and closer. And I started hearing rumors ... I told [my parents] if Smith leaves, I'm out of here too. It's just like that."

Chiles said it was hard to leave Oregon State, nonetheless. His parents did not want to leave, and he said himself that he didn't want to leave. Chiles called it a "business decision."

"Michigan State was the only school I looked into that I really wanted to go to," Chiles said. "But when it comes to options, I had a lot of options. The only school I really entertained was USC. And simply because it was back home, and I wanted to hear what they had to say.

"I liked it, but I was just committed to my coach, and that's just how it was."

Chiles said that even with hindsight, he still would have chosen Oregon State out of high school for Smith.

"At the end of the day, I think he's the reason I'm developed so much," Chiles said.

Chiles, a true sophomore, is considered one of the best quarterbacks in the Big Ten despite not having taken a single snap in the Green and White. The Spartans and their head coach will be relying heavily on Chiles to get the new chapter of Michigan State football off to a good start.

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