Trinidad Chambliss isn’t thinking about 2026 right now.
He has more pressing matters at hand, like trying to win a national championship for the Ole Miss Rebels.
But while the star quarterback focuses on the present, a rematch with Georgia in the Sugar Bowl quarterfinal game of the College Football Playoff on Thursday at the Caesars Superdome, his future hangs in the balance.
The outcome of his waiver request to the NCAA for a sixth season of eligibility will be one of the biggest stories of the offseason, a transaction that directly will affect the 2026 SEC and CFP race. The immediate future of the Ole Miss football program — along with that of one of its main rivals, LSU, where former Rebels coach Lane Kiffin now resides — might hinge on the decision.
“I can’t put too much thought into that,” Chambliss said Tuesday during a Sugar Bowl media session at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown New Orleans. “I’m just focused on the game right now, but hopefully we’ll get an answer shortly after.”
Given Chambliss’ star power and potential free agent status, it was no surprise that he was the center of attention at the Sugar Bowl media event. A steady stream of reporters approached the podium during his one-hour session to inquire about the status of his waiver request. Some, presumably from Mississippi markets, even apologized for having to repeatedly ask about it.
The genial and thoughtful Chambliss did his best to politely deflect questions about the topic and his future. But eventually, he opened up on the matter, saying he is confident he will be granted an extra year of football once the NCAA returns to business in early January.
“I feel like my case is very strong,” Chambliss said. “I don’t see a reason why they should deny it, quite frankly. I mean, I have a lot to back up what I’m stating, what I’m putting in front of them, so it’s just up to the NCAA.”
Chambliss’ case is complicated. That’s why he recently hired prominent attorney Tom Mars to handle it. Mars has extensive experience in NCAA eligibility cases and is an expert at navigating the thicket of mind-numbing NCAA bylaws and byzantine legalese.
Ole Miss filed a waiver petition for Chambliss to receive a sixth year of eligibility Nov. 16. He is seeking a medical redshirt for the 2022 season when he was at Ferris State, an NCAA Division II program in Michigan, where he started his collegiate playing career after taking a traditional redshirt season in 2021. Chambliss said he was unable to play games in 2022 because of a respiratory condition that ultimately led to surgery to remove his tonsils.
ESPN reported last week that there were indications the NCAA needed more information before making a decision. Chambliss’ representatives reportedly submitted 91 pages of medical records to the NCAA to substantiate his case.
Mars reportedly sent Ole Miss a seven-page letter, which has since been forwarded by the school to the NCAA Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement, which will decide Chambliss’ fate. At stake for Chambliss, according to Mars’ letter, are millions of dollars as one of the top returning quarterbacks in college football next season.
“I feel like I deserve another year,” Chambliss said. “I’ve only played three seasons of college football, and I feel like I deserve to play four.”
Chambliss finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting this season after leading Ole Miss to one of the most successful seasons in school history. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound senior completed 66.6% of his passes and threw for 19 touchdowns while rushing for 506 yards and eight touchdowns. He passed for a touchdown and ran for two more in a 41-10 victory over Tulane in the CFP first round.
Before that game, he told reporters in Mississippi that he hasn’t decided where he will attend college if his waiver request is successful.
“I’d have to consider what the best situation is for me,” he said. “What I feel most comfortable with. Who I trust the most.”
Ole Miss is expected to fight hard to keep him. But LSU, which will have a wide-open quarterback situation in the wake of Garrett Nussmeier’s departure, also will be interested. In addition to Kiffin, the Tigers will have Chambliss’ current offensive coordinator, Charlie Weis Jr., on staff next season.
Chambliss said he has not communicated with Kiffin since he left Ole Miss for LSU last month. He said his parents and representatives also were not talking to the Tigers new head coach.
“I don’t think that’s even allowed right now,” he said. “I liked coach Kiffin a lot. I didn’t have a problem with him. He brought me in here, took a chance on me, recruited me in the portal. So yeah, I mean, I hope that me and coach Kiffin’s relationship grows from here on out.”
Meantime, Chambliss’ future will continue to dominate discussions at water coolers and online message boards throughout the region.
Chambliss laughed incredulously when asked whether he was aware of the interest his situation has created among fans and media. He said he regularly receives texts and direct messages on social media about the situation. As much as he tries to tune it out, he said the outreach is impossible to ignore.
“For sure,” he said. “People text me, DM me. So yeah, I definitely get texts about that.”
He was asked whether a lot of those texts are coming from LSU fans.
“A lot of fans have texted me,” he said with a smile.
Ole Miss Rebels quarterback Trinidad Chambliss (6) answers a question during the Allstate Sugar Bowl Media Day at the Sheraton Hotel on Canal Street in New Orleans, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025. (Staff photo by David Grunfeld, The Times-Picayune | NOLA.com)
