Northwestern’s Chip Kelly lands new quarterback with Big Ten experience

Northwestern is coming off a 7-6 season, ending with a win over Central Michigan in the GameAbove Sports Bowl. As the team looks to improve in 2026, it will look to revamp the offense, which led to the hiring of Chip Kelly as the offensive coordinator. The next step was a new quarterback, and Northwestern has landed its man.

Former Michigan State quarterback Aidan Chiles will be transferring to Northwestern, according to Pete Thamel of ESPN.

Chiles started his career at Oregon State, backing up DJ Uiagalelei in his freshman year.  He did appear in nine games, throwing for 309 yards and four scores, while also running in another three. After Jonathan Smith left his head coaching position at Oregon State to head to Michigan State, Chiles went with him.

The quarterback was solid in his first season at Michigan State, passing for 2,415 yards with 13 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Still, he struggled with consistency throughout the season. Chiles entered the season as the starting quarterback. He passed for 1,392 yards with ten touchdowns and three interceptions. The Spartans quarterback had also scored six times on the ground. He was benched after eight games due to his inconsistent play, as Chiles also dealt with injuries.

Now, Chiles will get a chance to start again, this time under Chip Kelly, who has done wonders with college quarterbacks. The best example is Will Howard. Howard’s best season at Kansas State was when he passed for 2,643 yards, with 24 touchdowns, ten interceptions, and nine rushing scores. In his lone year under Kelly at Ohio State, he passed for 4,0101 yards with 35 touchdowns, ten picks, and seven rushing scores.

Chiles and Kelly will pair together with the hope of making a major improvement at Northwestern. They were 99th in the nation in points per game and 104th in yards per game. Further, the team was 111th in passing yards per game. Chiles will also get a chance to play at Michigan State one more time, as Northwestern will visit the Spartans next year.

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