Trinidad Chambliss is returning for his final collegiate season in 2026 at Ole Miss after securing a court injunction. But his journey with the Rebels would never have happened if Lane Kiffin and his staff hadn’t made the right decision in 2025. The standout QB was ready to transfer to an AAC program after spending four seasons at Ferris State.

“He [Trinidad Chambliss] actually was going to go to Temple; it was his offer,” revealed Lane Kiffin during his June 17 appearance on In the Bayou With Tyrann Mathieu. “And we saw him actually on Twitter and then got the film, and everybody started getting excited. They brought him to me, and I just kept watching. I think he had scored 51 touchdowns. I was like, “This guy’s just a winner. He just finds a way to make plays, man. They’re in the playoffs to win the national championship, and he just takes off and runs and makes these plays.”

And I’m like, “Guys, I know maybe he’s not as tall as some people want him to be and all that, but he’s just a winner, and he makes plays, and it doesn’t matter what level you’re at. If you make them, you make them,” added Kiffin.

After leading Ferris State to the 2024 Division II national championship, Chambliss entered the portal following the advice of his QB trainer, Steve Calhoun. And just days later, the QB got calls from across college football: New Mexico, Western Kentucky, and Utah. Even Minnesota and Ohio State inquired.

But the Temple Owls showed most interest and even booked a flight for him to visit the facility. According to CBS Sports, the Owls had allocated $300,000 to secure the quarterback. However, two days before his visit, Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss entered the picture, and Temple didn’t stand a chance. At the time, CBS Sports reported that the Rebels’ contract offer was over $500,000. However, if the same scenario had happened this year, Chambliss would still be representing Ferris State.

“It’s funny because now you spin forward, and that wasn’t even a full year. He didn’t get to us till this time last year. He was a spring, which you don’t even have anymore. He was a spring portal,” said Kiffin. “So, you can’t even do that anymore. A year earlier, they changed the rule for no spring portal. He would have still been there. The story would have never happened.”

Trinidad Chambliss joined Ole Miss in April because of the 10-day spring portal window. The NCAA eliminated that window in September 2025. Now, we’re left with just the January portal. After arriving at Oxford, Chambliss was supposed to be a backup to QB Austin Simmons. But the latter went down with an injury in Week 3 of the last season. Chambliss took over and never looked back.

Trinidad Chambliss made an immediate impact in Oxford

Chambliss did for Ole Miss what Kiffin saw him doing on tape at Ferris State. In his first career start for a D1 school, the QB recorded 415 total yards against Arkansas. He repeated similar feats against Mississippi State and South Carolina. However, his best was yet to come.

“You look at the Georgia game, and here he is making the run to win the national championship doing the same thing. It’s just against a school you’ve heard of now versus what he was doing in Division II. And he’s making the same plays,” Kiffin said.

Chambliss got the stage to show his talent against Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. At the time, Ole Miss was still reeling from the aftermath of Kiffin’s abrupt exit. But on the field, it looked like Pete Golding had the team playing like a single unit. It didn’t matter that they were playing the SEC Champions. Chambliss threw for 362 yards and two touchdowns, and some of the plays he made will forever be etched in the memories of every Ole Miss fan.

Even against Miami, a game in which no one gave the Rebels a chance, Chambliss almost caused an upset. He threw for 277 yards and added 27 more with his legs in a 27-31 loss. In January this year, he committed to Ole Miss to return for another year for a significantly larger amount than the $500,000 the program paid him last year.