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Trinidad Chambliss will be back for the 2026 season. A Mississippi Supreme Court judge denied the NCAA’s appeal of his preliminary injunction Friday, which means Ole Miss’s quarterback just won his fight for another year of eligibility.
The whole thing started after Chambliss had a breakout 2025 campaign with the Rebels and asked the NCAA for a medical waiver. He wanted another year because respiratory issues kept him out for the entire 2022 season at Ferris State; that should’ve counted as a medical redshirt, he argued.
The NCAA said no.
According to the NCAA, the evidence pointed to Ferris State sitting Chambliss for “development needs and our team’s competitive circumstances.” In other words, they didn’t buy the medical angle.
Following the rejection, Chambliss took the NCAA to court in Lafayette County Chancery Court. He got a preliminary injunction on Feb. 12. The NCAA appealed that injunction, and Friday, the appeal was denied.
Tom Mars, Chambliss’s attorney, wasn’t surprised. When the NCAA first filed the appeal, Mars said it was going to fail. He pointed to a former West Virginia running back who’d successfully argued that limiting benefits to players violates federal law, setting a precedent.
“Everyone remembers when the NCAA famously appealed to the Supreme Court in the (Shawne) Alston case and got their teeth knocked out by Justice Kavanaugh,” Mars told ESPN. “I expect the NCAA to be spitting Chiclets in this appeal as well.”
Chambliss came to Ole Miss before the 2025 season started. He was backing up Austin Simmons at the beginning of the year, but when Simmons went down with an injury in Week 2, Chambliss stepped in and never looked back.
The numbers he put up were ridiculous. Chambliss completed 66.1% of his passes for an SEC-leading 3,937 yards, along with 22 touchdowns and just three interceptions. He’s mobile too; he ran for 527 yards and eight scores. The senior led Ole Miss to the College Football Playoff, where the Rebels made it to the semifinal before losing to Miami.
Getting him back is massive for Ole Miss. Lane Kiffin bolted for the LSU coaching job and took a bunch of key staff members and players with him. There’s been a ton of turnover on the sidelines and on the field.
But Chambliss stayed in Oxford. That gives the Rebels a real shot at making another Playoff run. BetMGM has him tied for the second-best Heisman Trophy odds at +800, which tells you everything you need to know about what people think he can do next season.
