It remains to be seen whether Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss will be able to play a sixth season of college football, but things are reportedly trending in the right direction for the Rebels and their QB.
Chambliss, who led Ole Miss to its first College Football Playoff (CFP) appearance and first 11-plus-win season, had spent four years at Division II Ferris State, redshirting the first year, before becoming the Rebels' starting quarterback this past season. With his college eligibility exhausted, Chambliss and Ole Miss filed a waiver request for a sixth season, only for it to be denied by the NCAA. However, Chambliss's subsequent lawsuit against the NCAA could prove effective in negating that decision.
“Sources tell [Matt Zenitz] and me there's growing optimism that Trinidad Chambliss will end up being granted an injunction by a court in Mississippi that would allow him to play in 2026,” CBS Sports' Chris Hummer posted on X, formerly Twitter. “Chambliss sued the NCAA on Jan. 16 in Lafayette County, Mississippi.”
Sources tell @mzenitz and me there's growing optimism that Trinidad Chambliss will end up being granted an injunction by a court in Mississippi that would allow him to play in 2026.
Chambliss sued the NCAA on Jan. 16 in Lafayette County, Mississippi.https://t.co/6MTwJbesEj pic.twitter.com/Hmv7EqnAXr
— Chris Hummer (@chris_hummer) January 21, 2026
The crux of Chambliss's argument for a sixth season centers on the 2022 season, his second at Ferris State. After playing zero games and redshirting as a true freshman, Chambliss again did not play as a redshirt freshman in 2022, during which he claims to have been hampered by illness and respiratory challenges, although neither he nor Ferris State filed for a medical hardship waiver at the time, which, if granted, would have immediately given him another year of eligibility.
Instead, Chambliss played his final two seasons at Ferris State, which, in 2024, he led to a Division II national championship victory, the program's third in four years. During his redshirt junior season, he started all 15 games for the Bulldogs and tallied 2,925 passing yards, 1,019 rushing yards, and 51 total touchdowns (26 passing and 25 rushing).
Following the season, Chambliss transferred to Ole Miss, where he initially slotted in as redshirt sophomore Austin Simmons's backup. But in Week 2, after Simmons left the Rebels' game vs. Kentucky due to injury, Chambliss took over and never gave the starting spot back. He proceeded to start 13 games and post 3,937 passing yards, 527 rushing yards, and 30 total touchdowns. Meanwhile, Ole Miss won a program-record 13 games, made its first CFP berth, and reached the playoff semifinals, where it fell in dramatic fashion to Miami 31-27.
As multiple reporters have noted, Chambliss's lawsuit was filed in Mississippi near the campus of Ole Miss, of which the presiding judge, Robert Whitwell, is a law school alumnus.
Whether it is Chambliss at quarterback or not, the Rebels open the season in early September in Nashville vs. Louisville.
