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2025 was the year of overlooked quarterbacks. Fernando Mendoza was the 134th-ranked quarterback in his high school class and had a single offer from an FBS school. Diego Pavia began his college career at New Mexico Military Institute.
Then there's Trinidad Chambliss, who came to Ole Miss a national champion... at the Division II level.
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Chambliss's rise from the D2 playoffs to the College Football Playoff has been one of the college football season's best stories. One year after guiding Ferris State to a national title he's worked his way up the Ole Miss depth chart to put the SEC school two wins from one of its own. But with Lane Kiffin, the head coach who helped bring him to Oxford, now at LSU, would Chambliss follow him across state lines? And, more importantly, would the NCAA grant him eligibility after spending three seasons in Michigan for a Division II powerhouse?
Chambliss has already come to an agreement to return to Ole Miss under new head coach Pete Golding next fall. That will depend on an NCAA waiver that grants him a fifth year of eligibility. The dynamic quarterback is arguing his 2022 season should not count thanks to the chronic tonsilitis that kept him from the field as a freshman for the Bulldogs. A retroactive redshirt would clear him for 2026.
Otherwise, Chambliss may be able to take the Pavia route of arguing his ability to monetize his name, image and likeness (NIL) rights by playing at a lower level school. While Pavia's case -- and the ruling that allowed him to play in 2025 -- hinged on his time in junior college and not at the NCAA level, there could be an argument to be made against a crumbling institution that's spent most of the 2020s losing legal battles.
Either way, it seems like there's a good chance Chambliss is Ole Miss' starting quarterback in 2026.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Will Trinidad Chambliss return as Ole Miss QB in '26 with NCAA waiver?
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