How the Aidan Chiles commitment can change the program

Aidan Chiles finally committed to Michigan State on Thursday, giving the Spartans their QB1 and a look into the future.

Michigan State has found its new quarterback. No. 1 transfer portal quarterback Aidan Chiles has committed to the Spartans, following new head coach Jonathan Smith from Oregon State. The last few years have been disastrous for Michigan State, but things finally seem to be going our way.

After a second straight season of missing the postseason, this commitment from Chiles could be the one moment that changes everything.

Here is how this commitment can impact the program.

The domino effect

It is a well known fact that good players want to play with other good players. When one of the best players commits to a program it tends to cause the domino effect to occur. This means that other very good players are a lot more likely to commit to Michigan State as well.

When the first good player to commit is a quarterback, that makes it even better. The quarterback is the leader of every team. So when an elite quarterback commits to a program, there’s no telling how powerful the domino effect can be. Wide receivers, running backs, offensive linemen, and even defensive players are gonna take an extra hard look at Michigan State. And it’s more than likely that a lot will end up committing to Michigan State as well.

Rebuild may not take as long

Going along with the domino effect, our rebuild may not take as long as we initially thought. It was likely going to take many years before we seriously competed for a conference championship again. This may not be the case anymore.

Now I’m not suggesting that we are going to win the Big Ten next season. But instead of waiting 4-5 years to compete again maybe it only takes 2-3.

I also see a similar timeline when thinking about competing on the national level. Next year, the College Football Playoffs are moving to a 12-team format. That will make it much easier to qualify compared to the four-team format. In order for Michigan State to qualify, it’ll likely need to go 10-2 during the regular season, at least. If we are competing for the Big Ten in 2-3 years, that likely means we’re winning 10 games. Ten wins in the Big Ten will always be good enough to make the new playoff. Once you’re in the playoff, who knows what could happen. Maybe we can pull off a few upsets and make a run for a national title.

This commitment from Aidan Chiles makes anything possible for our program. That includes competing and winning the Big Ten and making the playoff in a few short years.

Patience is still needed

As I mentioned before, we still aren’t gonna compete for a Big Ten Title next season. I know it’s hard to be patient as fans, but that is still the reality of our situation. Getting a lot of other high-profile recruits and transfers won’t change that either. This rebuild will still take time, and patience is required.

I do believe competing in the Big Ten and for a spot in the playoff is possible in 2-3 years, but that is on the early side of things. The sky isn’t falling if we aren’t competing by that point, but there’s nothing wrong with hoping for that outcome.

Regardless of what happens, Michigan State finally has something we haven’t had in awhile: hope. All hope was lost after the Mel Tucker drama began two weeks into this season. But we finally have some hope again. Thursday could be the day we look back to in a few years as the day that Michigan State football was resurrected.