Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss is fighting for a College Football Playoff national championship and sixth year of eligibility at the same time.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on the situation Wednesday and noted the transfer from Division II Ferris State enlisted legal help in the form of attorney Tom Mars on Dec. 17 to help his case after Ole Miss filed a petition for him to receive another year of eligibility in November.
While “there’s no definitive timeline on when a decision will be made,” Mars sent a seven-page letter to Ole Miss that was forwarded to the NCAA reinstatement committee on Monday stressing the urgency to make a timely decision before the transfer portal opens Jan. 2.
Mars also said in the letter that Chambliss would “suffer irreparable harm” if not granted the waiver, per Thamel.
Chambliss could be in line to make millions of dollars as a sixth-year player, especially since he hasn’t decided where he will play if he does receive the waiver. Thamel noted “Ole Miss would put up a strong charge to keep him,” although LSU looms after it hired his former head coach, Lane Kiffin, and offensive coordinator, Charlie Weis Jr., heading into 2026.
Chambliss took a traditional redshirt season in 2021 when he was at Ferris State and is now asking for a medical redshirt for the 2022 campaign.
He appeared in just two games that season due to respiratory issues that resulted in a surgery to remove his tonsils. According to Thamel, Ole Miss received the NCAA’s initial feedback on Dec. 8 that suggested Chambliss would not receive the waiver.
However, it also asked the school to submit more information and additional contemporaneous medical documentation from 2022.
Yet Mars argued “the waiver bylaw Chambliss is seeking—12.6.1.7.1—requires ‘objective evidence’ while a medical hardship waiver, which he’s not applying for, requires ‘contemporaneous or other appropriate medical documentation,'” per Thamel.
According to Thamel, the attorney also said, “I’m baffled why this waiver wasn’t granted back in November just based on the irrefutable, objective evidence.”
The letter he sent included 91 pages of medical records submitted to the NCAA and a statement from the ear, nose and throat specialist who treated Chambliss.
On the field, Chambliss was excellent this season while leading the Rebels to an 11-1 overall record and 7-1 record in SEC play that included victories over Tulane, LSU, Oklahoma, Florida and rival Mississippi State.
Full Tulane Green Wave – Ole Miss Rebels Highlights
That was good enough to clinch a CFP spot as an at-large team, and Ole Miss cruised to a 41-10 win in an opening-round rematch against Tulane. Chambliss went 23-of-29 passing for 282 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions while adding 36 yards and two scores on the ground.
Next up is a quarterfinal showdown with the Georgia team that gave the Rebels their only loss of the season.
Chambliss threw for 263 yards and tallied three total touchdowns in that October loss, but the Bulldogs scored 43 points in an offensive explosion.
That game is scheduled for Jan. 1, which is one day before the transfer portal opens. If his sixth-year eligibility status has still not been determined to that point, it will remain a major storyline hovering over Ole Miss’ CFP run.