A little less than a week ago, Michigan State football quarterback Aidan Chiles was in Detroit, helping host a camp for 275 kids and he enjoyed his time and even spent some of it throwing alongside Michigan's Bryce Underwood.
While it's not exactly breaking news any time a player goes to help out at a youth football camp during the offseason, but Chiles took some time out of his busy schedule to speak to the media.
Spartan Mag's Kenny Jordan was one of those in attendance and he had a chance to speak to Chiles about the upcoming season and the QB1 gave some impressive answers.
Chiles spoke about his confidence and improvement after year one with Michigan State, but the quote that stood out to me was the one regarding his newfound underdog role. He hadn't quite been the underdog in his career before last season and heading into 2025, but it sounds like he's embracing it.
EXCLUSIVE: Michigan State QB Aidan Chiles helps host 275 kids at Detroit camp, looks forward to season
— Kenny Jordan (@Kenny_Jordan5) June 23, 2025
Chiles returns for year 2 in EL this fall with a full season of starting experience under his belt. There’s a lot of pressure in a pivotal season for him and the program, but… pic.twitter.com/s0Y4yzuq3X
It's "chip on the shoulder" season and we have to respect the fact that Chiles is leaning into the underdog role rather than running from it. Some players are too proud to acknowledge the fact that they're underdogs, but that's been the case at Michigan State dating back as long as I can remember.
Even during the successful Mark Dantonio era, Michigan State was often overlooked.
If Chiles can embrace that underdog role and feed off it, he's going to prove a lot of doubters wrong this season and improve drastically. The key to that is playing more freely. He was tense a season ago, especially after making mistakes, but he never really let loose consistently.
Let's hope the underdog role suits Chiles.