Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss
Ole Miss offensive coordinator John David Baker was calling plays at East Carolina a season ago when Trinidad Chambliss was making a name for himself as a Heisman Trophy candidate in Oxford. And when Baker was here helping Lane Kiffin run his offense, Chambliss was an underrecruited high school prospect out of Forest Hills Northern High School in Grand Rapids, Mich.
In short order, but the duo never met one another until last December.
Now, here we are, some four months later, and the two are still getting to know one another with the aim to be fast friends by the time the Rebels open their season in early September versus the Louisville Cardinals in Nashville.
“Trinidad is exactly what you want in the quarterback position,” said Baker. “Ultra-competitive, a perfectionist…he wants it right the first time. A great example today. We go third downs for the first time. There is some install involved in that, and he’s doing it with some new receivers, new tight ends, that he’s never played with before, and he wants it to be perfect.
“That’s what you love about him, because he’s pissed off it ain’t. And it’s OK. It’s OK, because we’ve got a lot of time before we play a football game. He’s exactly what you want. He’s a football junkie. he lives in this building. He’s a great teammate to the guys around him. You can tell, guys want to play for him. I picked up on that early when I got here in December. You could just see his personality is infectious, and a lot of that comes from just how competitive he is.”
Last season, Chambliss led the Rebels to a 13-2 record on their way to an appearance in the College Football Playoffs national semifinal Fiesta Bowl versus the Miam Hurricanes. Ole Miss finished No. 3 in the final national rankings.
Chambliss completed 294-of-445 passes for 3,937 yards, 22 touchdowns and just three interceptions. He was named the SEC’s newcomer of the year, won the Conerly Trophy and was a Manning Award, Maxwell Award, Davey O’Brien Award and Walter Camp Award finalist for player of the year.
Also, and worth noting, he spent the offseason defeating the NCAA in its efforts to deprive him of his last season of college eligibility.
He enters this season in some corners as the favorite to win the 2026 Heisman Trophy.
As for the offseason, Chambliss is just ready to focus on football.
“Yeah, it’s been kind of crazy, a little hectic, but I’m here now, so that’s all that matters,” Chambliss said.
Ole Miss enters week three of spring practice on Tuesday.
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