On Tuesday afternoon, rumors were swirling about Aidan Chiles potentially transferring within the Big Ten.
The former Michigan State football QB1 decided to enter the transfer portal this offseason after Alessio Milivojevic replaced him and Pat Fitzgerald was hired. When the transfer portal opened, he was receiving some interest, but one program stood out above the rest: Northwestern.
Chip Kelly wanted to try his hand at turning Chiles into a legit NFL quarterback, and the former Oregon State transfer made it official on Wednesday.
After his commitment to Northwestern, Chiles marks the second former Spartan QB1 to find a new home this offseason. The other? Well, Katin Houser is headed back to the Big Ten as well, committing to Illinois. Sam Leavitt is still looking for a new home, but the favorites look like Kentucky and LSU.
There are now four former Spartan quarterbacks with starting jobs in college football heading into 2026, and Michigan State will face three of them.
According to Jacob Cotsonika on X, Michigan State is going to face three former Spartan starting quarterbacks in 2026 — all at Spartan Stadium.
That’s going to make for some must-see TV in Fitzgerald’s first season.
Spartan Stadium will be rocking in 2026
The home schedule for 2026 is already going to be a special one for Michigan State with Illinois, Nebraska, Oregon, and Washington all making their way to East Lansing. Unfortunately, Michigan State will have to travel to Notre Dame, Michigan, and Wisconsin which makes for a tough schedule.
Spartan Stadium is going to be rocking to kick off the Fitzgerald era.
While expectations after four straight postseason-less seasons are relatively mild, the hype and excitement levels are rising under Fitzgerald. He’s piecing together a roster that will be able to compete in the Big Ten.
Things just got a whole lot more interesting with Houser and Chiles transferring to Big Ten programs that are on Michigan State’s 2026 schedule, but Noah Kim is also back for one more season with Eastern Michigan, and the Spartans will host him on Sept. 12.
Spartan fans are going to show up in droves to make sure that none of these former Michigan State QB1s escape East Lansing with a win.
The 2026 schedule will be fun.