Coming Home: Aidan Chiles balancing focus and family in SoCal

When the Michigan State charter lifted off Thursday, Aidan Chiles was planning to do what he always does on long flights: close his eyes and sleep.

“We prepared all week, watched the film, (did) what we (had) to do, so on the plane ride, I plan on sleeping through it,” Chiles said earlier this week. “That’s the best way to get through that flight. I hate flights anyway.”

It was a four-plus hour trip that carried Chiles back to familiar ground.

The junior quarterback grew up in California, not far from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum where he’ll take the field Saturday evening in Michigan State’s Big Ten opener against Southern Cal. Also, not too far from SoFi Stadium where the Spartans practiced Friday while still acclimating to the west coast time zone.

On Thursday evening, the Spartans gathered along the Pacific shoreline, taking in the sunset. Program staff noted there’s even some science suggesting that watching the sun go down can help reset the body’s clock. It wasn’t just about the scenery, though. Partly it was team bonding, but it was also part of a carefully planned adjustment to the late kickoff ahead.

That night, players were kept awake until 10:30 p.m. under a sort of “reverse curfew,” and by Friday, the bedtime was pushed even later, to 11:00 p.m. local time (2:00 a.m. Eastern).

Saturday night's game is a game layered with meaning — a return home for Chiles, family in the stands, a chance to perform on a stage he grew up seeing.

But Chiles insists it’s just another game.

“All my people are from California, (but) it’s not something I need to worry about,” he said. “It’s just another distraction. I’m letting my mom take care of all the tickets and everything."

That ability to block out noise wasn’t always there.

Chiles remembers the night it clicked in his mind. It was his senior year of high school, homecoming week. He was asking someone to the dance after the game. Problem was, it showed in his preparation.