PITTSBORO, Mississippi — Ole Miss star quarterback Trinidad Chambliss — the former Division II star from Ferris State who helped lead the Rebels to the winningest season in program history and a spot in the College Football Playoff semifinals — had his request for a preliminary injunction granted Thursday afternoon and is eligible to play in the 2026 college football season. Chambliss’ case against the NCAA was heard in Lafayette County chancery court at the Calhoun County courthouse in Pittsboro.
Chambliss, who finished eighth-place in the 2025 Heisman Trophy voting, had an appeal for a sixth-year waiver denied by the NCAA last week, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. He also had an appeal denied on Jan. 9, the day after the Rebels (13-2) fell to Miami 31-27 in the Fiesta Bowl. He helped lead the Rebels to a No. 3 ranking in the final Associated Press poll, the highest for the program since finishing third in 1962.
Chambliss was represented in court by, among others, William Liston and Tom Mars, and Judge Robert Whitwell ultimately ruled in the petitioner’s favor after nearly five hours of testimony and deliberations. Whitwell’s final reading took an additional hour-and-a-half; the NCAA’s lawyers were not present for the reading.
The motion for the preliminary injunction was filed on Jan. 26 to prevent the NCAA from “prohibiting (Chambliss) from practicing, playing, or otherwise participating on the University of Mississippi intercollegiate football team during the 2026-2027 academic year.” The cornerstones of an injunction are based on whether “irreparable harm” will be done to the petitioner without it, “each party’s likelihood of prevailing at trial, and any other public or private interests implicated by the injunction,” per Cornell Law.
Chambliss’ representatives called four witnesses to the stand — Dr. Ford Dye, an otolaryngologist in Oxford, Ole Miss quarterback coach Joe Judge, Chambliss’ mother, Cheryl, and Chambliss himself. The NCAA did not call any witnesses.
Among the arguments Chambliss’ side made were that bouts of COVID-19 and mononucleosis, ongoing sleep apnea and tonsillitis contributed to him being “incapacitated” for the 2022 season, a year in which Chambliss did not play a single snap for Ferris State. Chambliss and his mother said that Ferris State head coach Tony Annese informed the quarterback he would be taking a medical redshirt in 2022, though the proper paperwork was not filed.
They were under the impression that Chambliss — who took a traditional redshirt as a true freshman in 2021 — had two years of eligibility remaining when he arrived at Ole Miss last spring. The argument largely centered around the notion that Chambliss has not played four full seasons of college football, which the NCAA guarantees its student-athletes.
The NCAA argued in part that because Chambliss practiced during the 2022 season and played in 2023 and 2024 while still experiencing his documented symptoms, did not miss practice or school time and did not undergo surgery until after the 2024 campaign, he was not truly incapacitated and that they had not acted in bad faith in making their rulings. They also claimed there was insufficient documentation of Chambliss’ medical issues.
By the end of the lengthy proceedings, Whitwell determined, in part, that the NCAA largely “ignored” the filed medical records in the case “in violation of its own policies.” He also noted the NCAA “does not define or enumerate what health conditions may be considered ‘incapacitated.’”
“Trinidad Chambliss has demonstrated based on the evidence presented that he is entitled to an additional year of eligibility at the University of Mississippi and the NCAA has failed in its argument to withhold that right,” Whitwell said. “Further, Trinidad Chambliss has proven the extent exists the substantial likelihood he will prevail on the merits of the … hearing to be set at a later date. The injunction is necessary to defend irreparable harm to Trinidad.”
Ultimately, Whitwell ruled that not granting the injunction would have created “irreparable harm” to Chambliss and not to the NCAA.
“This will deprive Trinidad of the very benefits the NCAA contracts with Ole Miss and Ferris State were intended to secure the student-athletes,” Whitwell said. “This court is also of the opinion that such harm cannot be fully or adequately rendered by money damages.”
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