Michigan State football will look quite different in 2024 under new head coach Jonathan Smith, including under center.

MSU cleared house after 2023, bringing in Smith and a brand new coaching staff, and reshaping the roster through the transfer portal, with nearly two dozen departures and 10 additions.

One of those transfer portal additions is quarterback Aidan Chiles, who followed Smith and offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren from Oregon State, and projects as the Spartans’ assumed starting quarterback for the 2024-25 season and the foreseeable future. Chiles, still 18 and a sophomore, appeared in limited action over nine games as a true freshman, meaning he could potentially be MSU’s quarterback for the next three seasons.

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Chiles has not been officially named the starting quarterback by the coaching staff. He is one of five quarterbacks on the roster, along with sixth-year senior Tommy Schuster, a Michigan native who transferred from North Dakota, true freshmen Alessio Milivojevic and Ryland Jessee, and walk-on redshirt freshman Atticus Carridine.

All of MSU’s quarterbacks who played in 2023 — Noah Kim, Sam Leavitt and Katin Houser — transferred in the offseason.

Chiles is the only quarterback on the roster with FBS playing experience, albeit just 91 snaps as a true freshman with Oregon State. He was the backup to DJ Uiagalelei, who had transferred to Oregon State from Clemson, which limited Chiles’ action, but Smith still made sure to get him experience.

Schuster started four seasons at the FCS level for UND, throwing for 9,073 passing yards, 63 touchdowns and 843 completions in 42 games over four seasons.

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Chiles is one of the most heralded, if not the most, transfers joining Michigan State in the portal era, even over the likes of Kenneth Walker III or Jayden Reed. While similar production to the latter two in green and white is far from guaranteed, Chiles has an encouraging background that says he could thrive.

Chiles, a 6-foot-3, 217-pound California native, was rated the No. 8 overall transfer, and second-best quarterback transfer going into this fall, according to 247 Sports’ rankings. He was a four-star recruit out of Downey High School in the metro Los Angeles area, and the No. 152 overall recruit and No. 12 quarterback in the 2023 class per the 247Sports composite rankings. He signed with Smith and the Beavers originally at the end of 2022, and enrolled early at 17 years old.

In his reserve action last year, Chiles completed 24 of 35 passes for 309 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions, while adding 79 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, showing his ability as a dual-threat option.

Teammate testimonial on Aidan Chiles

If you are curious what Chiles’ impact on MSU could look like, take it from a program veteran who has faced off against him in practice throughout the summer, or one of his projected top receivers.

“Aidan has such a vital role on the offense. They work around him,” sixth-year senior defensive tackle Maverick Hansen told reporters last week. “He’s the one, he’s the one that everyone’s looking at to be the guy and everything, just like any other quarterback. Now (Walker) is a running back. But we knew in spring ball before we even hit the season that K9 was a guy, because he would just cut up and he’d be gone before anyone else could touch him. And we’re like, ‘Holy smokes, this dude is the real deal.’ And the coaches would say, ‘Oh, K9 ain’t gonna be here long. As soon as this season’s over, he’s in the league.’ It’s different for a quarterback, absolutely. He’s got a lot — he can throw the ball, he can run the ball, he’s got a lot of different options, as far as a running back can really just run and block. So I feel like there’s a lot of potential there for Aidan.”

“Dynamic. I can say that in one word,” senior wide receiver Montorie Foster Jr. told reporters. “But if you want me to go more in detail: He’s just a dude, man. He makes plays, he stretches plays. That West Coast offense, being able to get them out the pocket and stretch plays down the field, it helps my game to make more plays down the field.”

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BUFFALO — Maxim Strbak has had hockey as part of his life almost since birth.

The defenseman prospect, selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the second round (No. 45) of the 2023 NHL Draft, has his father, Martin, to thank for that.

“Kind of since I was born, I was always watching hockey,” Maxim Strbak said. “I think when I was around 4 years old I first stepped on the ice with him, he was playing in the KHL [Kontinental Hockey League] in Russia. Kind of started there and been playing ever since.”

Martin Strbak was selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the ninth round (No. 224) at the 1993 NHL Draft. Also a defenseman, he played five games with the Los Angeles Kings and 44 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2003-04, while also playing 21 professional seasons throughout Europe, including 10 in his native Slovakia.

“He always told me that back then when he was drafted, he didn’t even actually even know what the draft was, so that was pretty interesting,” Maxim said.

After Martin’s playing career ended in 2016, he moved into coaching, a journey that took the family to Finland. That’s where Maxim played his youth hockey, eventually playing for Jokerit’s teams in Finland’s under-18 and under-20 leagues.

In 2022-23, Maxim joined Sioux Falls of the United States Hockey League. He had 18 points (five goals, 13 assists) in 46 games, and then had six assists in seven games to help Slovakia finish fourth at the 2023 IIHF Under-18 World Championship.

Last season he had nine points (two goals, seven assists) in 32 games as a freshman at Michigan State to help the school win the Big Ten tournament for the first time. He also had seven points (one goal, six assists) and averaged a team-best 23:38 of ice time in five games for Slovakia at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship. Martin was an assistant coach.

“He’s a physical player,” Sabres director of player development Adam Mair said during Buffalo’s development camp in July. “He competes hard, he defends well, but also he’s got a really understated puck game. He’s able to move the puck up the ice efficiently. Big body, right-hand shot [defenseman] that can do that, it was impressive this year.”

Strbak credited Michigan State coach Adam Nightingale and his staff for helping him acclimate quickly to collegiate hockey.

“It’s given me a lot of confidence when we practice, and I can see that turn into games more and more,” Strbak said. “And I think that’s what made an impact.”

The Sabres noticed it too.

“Just his ability to grow,” Mair said. “He came [to North America], to Michigan State, which the program turned over and got to give credit to their coaching staff. He got thrust into big minutes throughout the season and he showed that he can play a reliable role on a really good NCAA hockey team.”

Strbak feels he has matured in his game, with an even better feel for making the right play at the right time. He heads into his sophomore season at Michigan State looking to take another step in his development, including increased offensive production and becoming more of an all-around player.

He hasn’t thought about how many seasons he’d like to play in college before turning pro. The Buffalo development staff has told him to just go play and do well.

“I’ve talked to them throughout the season and the feedback was usually very good,” Strbak said. “I think they’re happy with the way I play and I’m also happy with the way I play, so we’ll see. Another big season for me and for Michigan State.”

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, MI — Severe storms hit the area hard as the polls were open for voting on Election Day in Southwest Michigan, causing a temporary disruption.

At some voting locations in St. Joseph County, voters were asked to shelter in place during a tornado warning that hit the area Tuesday morning.

A storm with warnings of a possible tornado rolled through Michigan on the morning of Tuesday, Aug. 6, destroying trees, damaging buildings, flooding streets and cutting off power for thousands of electrical customers in the area.

As of early afternoon Tuesday, there have been no confirmed reports of a tornado.

Three voting precincts in St. Joseph County temporarily lost power during the storm, Undersheriff Jason Bingaman said. Two of the locations had emergency power generators, though the Flowerfield Township Hall location did not, so the sheriff’s office brought in a generator to get the building back online after a power outage from the storm.

The township hall is located at 12020 M-216, in Marcellus. It is about 25 miles south of Kalamazoo, in St. Joseph County.

Voters and election workers sheltered at some precincts, including in two bathrooms at Flowerfield Township Hall, St. Joseph County Clerk and Register of Deeds Lindsay Oswald said.

The building is a former schoolhouse that is about 175 years old, township Supervisor Ron Shaver said.

Though the building lost power, Oswald said, the voting machinery has a battery backup that allowed workers to continue the voting process after they stopped sheltering, when the storm had passed.

“Our process is built to be resilient,” Oswald said. “It’s Michigan, we know the weather is going to be crazy here. You can’t rely on it.

“We have to have those procedures in place and we have to be ready for anything,” she said.

The generator was brought in to ensure the location had power for the rest of the day, she said. They also brought in a lamp to run off the generator, to give election workers some light, she said.

Polling locations in Burr Oak and Colon also lost power and had generators in place, she said.

Oswald and other officials were busy monitoring weather conditions Tuesday morning and communicating with poll workers about when they needed to take shelter, she said. The main concern for severe weather in the county overall was from 7:50 a.m. to 9 a.m., she said.

At 8:09 a.m., a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located near Marcellus, the National Weather Service said.

Township workers did a great job during the storm, Oswald said. People sheltered for less than a half hour, she said.

Bingaman is one of five candidates running for the office, facing Dennis Allen, Joe Bingaman, Gordon L. Evilsizor and Chad Spence, to become the county’s next sheriff.

Bingaman said officials worked together to try to make sure the polls would stay open so people could vote.

“It’s the proverbial, it’s going to happen on a day you don’t want it to,” Bingaman said.

The county was under a tornado warning for about a half hour, Bingaman said.

MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette has reached out to the township clerk seeking comment.

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