Rocky 2024 Campaign Might Have Been Best Thing for MSU's Chiles
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Aidan Chiles didn't have a great first season as a full-time starting quarterback, we know that.
As is the case with most young quarterbacks, he was inconsistent, which was the story of Michigan State's 2024 season as a whole.
Chiles showed signs of great potential, but with every strong play, there seemed to be a bad one, and that's just the nature of being an inexperienced starting quarterback growing into his shoes.
But as the beloved "Star Wars" character Yoda said, "The greatest teacher, failure is." Chiles may be better off for having experienced the trials and tribulations of his sophomore campaign.
"That process as a young quarterback, I think we talked about it a little bit coming out of the spring -- I think he learned a tremendous amount, just through some of the ups and downs of last season," said Michigan State offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren, "and I felt like he kind of finished the season on an upward trend."
Mistakes are part of the process
It's nothing out of the ordinary to see a young quarterback make costly mistakes -- for most, it's part of the process. And Chiles is even seeing that with his own room.
"Last year, we saw it a lot -- I tried forcing things and was trying to make a play, and instead of just throwing the ball away or running out of bounds, I would throw an interception," Chiles said after the Spartans' first practice of fall camp last week. "I watched it today -- we have young guys out here like Alessio (Milivojevic) and Leo (Hannan) out here trying to make plays. Ball popped up in the air, and was picked off, when they could have just thrown it away or out of bounds.
"That's the stuff you have to learn, and it's not always a learning experience. Sometimes you see it happen with other quarterbacks, and you don't want that to happen to you. Other times, you have to learn on the spot, and it is what it is. So yeah, for sure something you'll have to learn, but it takes time."
The next step is to minimize those mistakes, which in turn will lead to more production. If Chiles can do that, his talent will overshadow his flaws, and he should emerge as one of the best quarterbacks in the Big Ten.
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