Lane Kiffin raves about story Trinidad Chambliss has written for himself

When most teams lose their starting quarterback to an injury, it’s a disaster that can send the season spiraling. That hasn’t been the base for Ole Miss and head coach Lane Kiffin, though, as backup Trinidad Chambliss hit the ground running and now has made himself one of the most exciting quarterbacks in the SEC.

Over the weekend, Chambliss helped Ole Miss to a massive win over LSU. There, Chambliss came up big in clutch moments, helping to write the story for himself that has Kiffin incredibly excited about.

“He was pretty emotional afterwards in there,” Lane Kiffin said. “Really cool. Hug and said, ‘I love you’ and these things. And he was just so appreciative for the opportunity. But it’s just a really cool story.”

By now, the Trinidad Chambliss story is well covered. A transfer from Division II Ferris State, he won a national championship at that level before hitting the transfer portal. Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss staff did an excellent job of scouting and finding him, bringing him in ahead of the 2025 season. Now, he’s jumped on the opportunity. That included a bold fourth down conversion to put the win over the LSU Tigers on ice.

“I like good stories. You know, here’s a little short kid from Division II,” Kiffin said. “Going against [Garrett] Nussmeier and the Mighty Tigers at little Ole Miss. So, it was really cool. And for him to go out of bounds like he shouldn’t and then make a play to end it was awesome. Hope it’s just a really cool story for a lot of people.”

For the season, Trinidad Chambliss is completing 64.4 percent of passes for 1,033 yards and five touchdowns to only one interception. He’s also rushing for 266 yards and two touchdowns.

There are still some questions surrounding just how healthy or not original starter Austin Simmons is and where he stands on the depth chart long-term. For now, though, it’s easy to understand why Lane Kiffin is confident riding with Trinidad Chambliss. After all, it’s hard to argue with the results so far.

Lane Kiffin shuts down question on whether Trinidad Chambliss has earned starting job

Having two capable starting quarterbacks is a luxury, but it does also force a coach to decide on who to roll with. For now, however, Lane Kiffin decided to shut down questions on whether or not Trinidad Chambliss had earned the starting job long term.

“We got a bye week coming up at 5-0 and 3-0, first place in the conference. It’s a good problem to have. I don’t have that answer right now and I don’t need to have it right now,” Kiffin said.

“We have two really good quarterbacks and that’s a really good thing to have because I think you see around the country people, usually when they lose their quarterback, their team changes a lot. Austin got hurt and we’re still able to play the way that we’ve played. It’s a really good problem to have.”

Ole Miss has a bye next week before playing host to Washington State on October 11th. After that, it’s back into SEC play against Georgia. In the meantime, the questions surrounding the quarterback position will only get louder.