OXFORD – If anyone knows just how much can change in a given calendar year, it’s Ole Miss signal caller Trinidad Chambliss.
Just one year ago, he was still the assumed starting quarterback at Division II powerhouse Ferris State. Now he’s one of the betting favorites to win the 2026 Heisman Trophy.
Chambliss exploded onto the national college football scene out of relative obscurity last fall. The Michigan native began his career at Ferris State and led the Bulldogs to the 2024 national title. He entered the transfer portal on April 10, 2025 and transferred to Ole Miss after spring practice had already ended and came in as the backup to Austin Simmons.
Simmons was injured late in a win at Kentucky, and Chambliss started the remainder of the season, taking the program to new heights in the process. Chambliss finished eighth in Heisman Trophy voting and led the Rebels (13-2) to the winningest season in program history and its first trip to the College Football Playoff, which ultimately ended in a semifinals loss to Miami. Chambliss finished second nationally with 4,464 yards of total offense and 30 combined passing and rushing touchdowns.
“Just talking to my friends – I talk to them every day – we just always talk about life in general and it always gets kind of brought up, where I’m at and how my journey has been,” Chambliss said. “Being at Ferris State for so long, not really knowing if football was really for me. And now I have the opportunity to go to the NFL (and) leave my mark in college football, too.”
Chambliss petitioned the NCAA for an additional year of eligibility – the basis of the claim being that he should be granted a medical redshirt due to illnesses he underwent during the 2022-23 season – and was denied, leading to a well-publicized court battle. Chambliss was granted a preliminary injunction allowing him to play, and the NCAA’s permission to appeal the ruling was denied by the Supreme Court of Mississippi last week.
The 2025 SEC Newcomer of the Year met with the media Tuesday, the first time since learning he would be eligible for the 2026 season. Ole Miss began spring practice last Friday.
“I always had confidence in me being back here, me being the quarterback at Ole Miss,” Chambliss said. “My case was valid. It was the truth, all that. So, my confidence never went down or up. It was always pretty high.”
The Rebels, who finished No. 3 in the final AP poll – the program’s highest finish since 1962 – return a handful of key pieces for the 2026 season, including Chambliss, All-SEC running back Kewan Lacy and star defenders like Kam Franklin, Will Echoles and Suntarine Perkins. Gone, however, is offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr., who stayed on with Ole Miss through the team’s playoff run before joining former head coach Lane Kiffin at LSU. John David Baker, who previously worked with Weis at Ole Miss, was brought in to lead the offense. Baker spent the last two seasons as the offensive coordinator at East Carolina. The Pirates averaged 449 yards of offense per game last season, good for 19th nationally.
Don’t expect too much to change going from Weis to Baker, Chambliss said.
“It’s a lot of similarities,” Chambliss said. “ … He knows the offense. It’s basically the same offense. He has some newer plays, some new terminology that we have to learn. But overall it’s the same thing.”
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