Why MSU's Chiles Sometimes Watches Opponents' Press Conferences

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Aidan Champion | Last updated Sep 4, 2025 1:01 PM ET

There's a multitude of ways you can learn more throughout a football season. Utilizing as many of those as possible is a testament to how much you truly care.

One of the biggest cliches in sports is not worrying about what the opponent has to say. But sometimes it can be beneficial, especially after the fact.

It's easy to move on from an opponent after your showdown with them is finalized, but it can help to know what their impressions of the contest were.

Why Aidan Chiles sometimes watches opponents' press conferences

Michigan State junior quarterback Aidan Chiles said he watched Western Michigan's postgame press conference following his team's Week 1 meeting with the Broncos. It's not a ritual he has -- watching the opposing team's postgame presser -- but it is something he will sometimes do to see what he and his team can do better.

"I just like to see what they say," Chiles said on Tuesday. "Sometimes they talk about us, sometimes they talk about how they came on. I want to see if they were the team they were supposed to be sometimes. Stuff like that. Just want to see how people feel about us."

" ... You're looking for things like, 'Oh, did we do too much of this or did we do something wrong here?' But overall, sometimes, just want to get the feel for how they felt about us. And then, going into next week, forget about it, it's over now, let's go into next week and focus on this week."

It's a smart method. While teams try not to focus on how they're perceived by the public, how the opponent views you after playing them can tell you more about yourself than anything. It can reaffirm what you believe is working while also giving you an idea of how the opposing team responds to certain things you do. It can be especially crucial to do this after Week 1 when you may not know a whole lot about yourself yet.

Next up on the Spartans' schedule is Boston College, which they will host for a primetime showdown on Saturday. A win would put Michigan State at 2-0 before its last home game before heading out on the road to start Big Ten play.