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Trinidad Chambliss is right at home at Ole Miss. He will lead the Rebels into the College Football Playoffs national semifinal Thursday night at the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona versus the Miami Hurricanes.
And why not. It sort of completes what has been a Cinderella story for the young man from Grand Rapids, Mich.
Chambliss came to Ole Miss as the expected backup for the highly-touted Austin Simmons, but he had other things in mind. Simmons was injured earlier this season versus Kentucky, and that’s when Chambliss answered the call. Like former New York Yankee Wally Pip who was replaced in the lineup one day by a kid named Lou Gehrig, Chambliss immediately shined, throwing for 3,360 yards, 21 touchdowns and creating a stir in the Heisman Trophy balloting.
And he never left the lineup.
Trinidad Chambliss
And he has this Ole Miss team on the verge of immortality, as it stands just two wins away from the school’s fourth national title in football.
What makes Chambliss’s story so special, is he was a Division II quarterback last season at tiny Ferris State. Now he is in charge of the Ole Miss Rebels and sits just two wins away from all the glory he rightly deserves.
On Tuesday, he spoke with the media about the differences in Division II and the SEC and dealing with NIL money. Chambliss has already resigned his NIL deal with the Grove Collective and is simply awaiting a ruling from the NCAA on his appeal for a sixth season of eligibility.
The bottom line is that he plans to return to Ole Miss next season.
“When I first heard about NIL, my dad said, ‘You get paid. That’s your job, so you get taxed,'” said Chambliss. “So I didn’t know about that. That was kind of surprising, but that’s just common sense really. I was naive to the fact of that.”
Chambliss’ financial advisor files his taxes for him, he said.
As for his key to making the move up to playing against SEC defenses?
“I would say my coaches,” related Chambliss. “They’ve helped me with football IQ, identifying coverages, seeing rotations, leverage of safeties, DBs and linebackers. That took a little bit. Learning the offense, as well. I was so used to Ferris State’s offense. Just transitioning to a higher-level offense.”
Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss
EVERYTHING WASN’T EASY
Chambliss’ transition wasn’t as easy it looked.
“It was hard at times,” he said. “It took repetition and experience. Practicing versus a Division I team every day. Seeing (linebacker) TJ Dottery, Will Echoles helped me adjust as quickly as I could.”
Chambliss closed with a message to Ole Miss fans.
“We’re here,” he said. “We couldn’t be here without you guys. Your love and support has been amazing. We truly appreciate that.”
Ole Miss and Miami will kick off at 6:30 p.m. CT on Thursday.