Michigan State's Quarterback Room In A Great Spot Heading Into 2024
Taking over a program that had suffered back-to-back losing seasons and lacking in roster depth, head coach Jonathan Smith had a lot of work to do from the start of his tenure at Michigan State.
In terms of building a new roster, Smith's first step was restocking the Spartans' quarterback position following the departures of Noah Kim, Katin Houser and Sam Leavitt. With the help of offensive coordinator and QB coach Brian Lindgren, Smith has done just that in his first two months on the job.
It started with rising sophomore Aidan Chiles, who followed Smith to East Lansing after one season together at Oregon State in 2023. In addition to his on-field talent, Chiles brings an intimate knowledge of the offense and the identity Smith and Lindgren are installing at Michigan State.
"He knows the offense, in regard to the terminology and things," Smith said of Chiles on Thursday. "It's not even just the offense, I'm thinking about the continuity and the culture aspect, how we're doing things on the day-to-day. He's got the investment of a year of reps and experience in an offense that's going to be very similar over here. I think that was a huge part for him."
Chiles appeared in nine games for the Beavers in a limited role last season, but his abilities were on full display when his number was called. As a true freshman, Chiles threw for 309 yards and four touchdowns while completing 24-of-35 pass attempts, without an interception. He also displayed his dual-threat abilities while rushing for 79 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries.
A midyear enrollee, Chiles arrived on campus last week in preparation for winter conditioning and is getting acclimated with life in East Lansing.
"He's got next steps, for sure," Smith said. "Learning and getting around this current roster — the receivers and the timing and the running backs and the O-line, and communication that way and adjusting to that. He's dove in. I just saw him this morning. He's excited, he's going to go to the hoop game tonight and get around that, getting adjusted to a new environment."
If Chiles was the lone quarterback Michigan State had landed out of the transfer portal, the program would have felt good about it, but Smith and Lindgren went out and snagged a perfect complimentary piece to the talented rising sophomore in veteran QB Tommy Schuster.
A four-year starter at FCS-level North Dakota, Schuster brings a wealth of experience at the collegiate level — the one thing Chiles lacks. Schuster started 42 games for the Fighting Hawks, throwing for 9,075 yards and 63 touchdowns while completing 843-of-1,252 pass attempts (67%) during his career. He added 175 rushing yards and five touchdowns on the ground at North Dakota.
"Tommy was a really good addition in a lot of different ways," Smith said. "Yes, played a lot of football at the college level, a lot of snaps, a lot of experience, a lot of reps there. He understood what the quarterback room is currently over here. We feel awesome about Tommy and the experience and how competitive he is to come onboard and dive into this offense, get a bunch of reps in this spring, along with the two freshmen."
Given his pedigree coming out of high school (four-star, No. 152 overall player) and having a one-year head start in Smith and Lindgren's offensive system, Chiles is expected to be the starter for Michigan State this fall. However, the rising sophomore will get plenty of competition from Schuster when spring practice begins in mid-March, and it wouldn't be shocking to see that battle carry into fall camp.
"We want to create competition at every position," Smith said.
While Chiles and Schuster have the Spartans in a good spot at quarterback heading into next season, Smith and Lindgren began building for MSU's future at the position by landing a pair of three-star QBs in the 2024 recruiting class. Alessio Milivojevic, a former Ball State commit, was the first high school quarterback to sign with Smith at MSU, and he was followed by former Utah State commit Ryland Jessee.
In the modern age of college athletics, it will be interesting to see how Milivojevic and Jessee's careers play out at MSU. Schuster has just one season of eligibility remaining, while Chiles is expected to be the starter through at least the 2025 season and maybe through 2026. This will give both Milivojevic and Jessee a lot of time to develop, but will either or both incoming freshmen be willing to wait that long for their shot at being a college starter?
Michigan State entered this winter with nothing but questions marks at the game's most important position after all three of its 2023 scholarship quarterbacks departed the program. Time will tell for certain, but it appears Smith already has the Spartans' QB room in a better spot than last season after just two months on the job.
"You talk about going from zero scholarship [quarterbacks] to four, Coach Lindgren [and] the recruiting staff did an awesome job flipping that thing," the head coach said.
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