Spartans' Chiles Optimistic About Not Making Same Mistakes
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Aidan Chiles is in Year 2 of a reclamation project. He transferred to Michigan State when his head coach Jonathan Smith left Oregon State to rejuvenate a Spartan program which became unraveled with the Mel Tucker saga.
Chiles had a rough first year as the Spartans fell to 5-7 and missed out on a bowl game. His sophomore year is going to be different.
On Tuesday, the first practice of fall camp. Chiles met with the media for the first time since the spring. He spoke about being more comfortable in East Lansing. He also said he has high expectations for his offense.
“I just talk to people and the people are pretty genuine,” said Chiles, who hails from Southern California. “They come up to me and say, ‘Hey are you Aidan?’” I’m like, ‘Yeah,’ so I’ll take pictures with them and talk to them.”
Chiles said he bulked up over the spring and put on more muscle. He weighed in at 220 pounds but feels he can still be as fast as ever, and he can juke out a defensive back like he did before.
His physical attributes, however, have never been called into question. He did not have any problems with his arm or his legs last season. He did have issues with his decision-making. He had ill-timed passes and many throws he wished he had back.
“There’s plays that I come in and do well, and there were also plays where I was like, ‘What are you doing?’” he said. “Just like you watch the game, I watch the game the same way. The little things I have to work on, continue to reduce mistakes and come back and hopefully make more bigger plays than we did last year.”
Smith said some of Chiles' throws, which look like mental mistakes, were either poor reads or the timing on his throw was off. He might have thrown it too early or too late, depending on when the receiver makes his break. The coach knows they need to work with Chiles on his reads and getting the timing right.
“That’s what I’m anxious to see over the next couple of weeks in practice,” Smith said. “When he gets in those situations, what is it like?”
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Scott Alan Salomon, J.D., earned his Juris Doctorate from St. Thomas University School of Law and his bachelor's in Communications from Miami University. He brings years of experience as a General Sports Writer On SI and is a gifted communicator. He has worked for the Tribune Company, Fan Sided, and now serves in his capacity On SI.