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Ole Miss

Trinidad Chambliss' lawyer claims QB will suffer 'irreparable harm' if not granted medical redshirt for sixth season

by: Alex Byington12/24/25_AlexByington

Prominent college football attorney Tom Mars claims Ole Miss senior quarterback Trinidad Chambliss will suffer “irreparable harm” if the Rebels’ star QB isn’t granted a medical redshirt waiver for a sixth season of collegiate eligibility, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Mars, who represents Chambliss, filed his claim in a seven-page letter that Ole Miss submitted to the NCAA reinstatement committee as part of Chambliss’ waiver petition.

Chambliss, a transfer Division II Ferris State, had a breakout 2025 season with the Rebels after starting the year as the backup to starter Austin Simmons. According to Thamel, Chambliss filed his waiver request for an additional season of eligibility on Nov. 16, and decision from the NCAA Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement was expected about a month, per ESPN sideline reporter Katie George. Thamel added Wednesday that “there were indications early this month that the NCAA needed more information for the waiver to be granted,” though no definitive timeline for a decision has been revealed.

In a post to X/Twitter, Mars suggested the NCAA is delaying its ruling on Chambliss’ waiver “by disregarding the plain language of its own bylaw, which requires ‘objective evidence’ and nothing more” in a social media post that linked Thamel’s ESPN report Wednesday afternoon. Chambliss hired Mars on Dec. 17, per Thamel, to help expedite his case, and Mars filed his seven-page letter citing “irreparable harm” on Dec. 22, pointing out “this matter is not just time sensitive” with the opening of the two-week NCAA Transfer Portal window on Jan. 2nd.

Chambliss’ waiver request is effectively requesting that his 2022 season at Ferris State, when he appeared in just two games and accumulated no statistics, be counted as a medical redshirt season due to “persistent respiratory issues” he experienced that year that required surgery to remove his tonsils, according to Thamel. Chambliss previously used a redshirt season in 2021, his true freshman year.

The NCAA case manager handling Chambliss’ waiver request provided initial feedback to Ole Miss on Dec. 8 and indicated the panel was “not inclined to issue the waiver,” but invited the program to submit additional information and “more contemporaneous medical documentation from 2022,” per Thamel.

Despite only starting 11 of Ole Miss’ 13 games this season, Chambliss ranks third in the SEC with 3,298 passing yards on 66.6-percent passing with 19 touchdowns to just three interceptions. He also rushed for an additional eight touchdowns and 506 yards on 124 carries.

Chambliss produced 318 total yards and three combined touchdowns in last Saturday’s first-round College Football Playoff game against 11th-seeded Tulane in a dominant 41-10 win to advance to the Sugar Bowl national quarterfinal against No. 3 Georgia on New Year’s Day in New Orleans.