Trinidad Chambliss Has A Surprising Stance On Lane Kiffin's Ole Miss Exit

No one was surprised when Lane Kiffin made the controversial decision to leave the Ole Miss Rebels for the LSU Tigers after the best season in the history of the program.

What they were surprised by, was the timing of it.

Kiffin made the unprecedented decision to ditch the Rebels just before the start of their College Football Playoff run, abandoning his team at the most important moment of their football careers for an arch-rival.

Some of those players, however, followed Kiffin to Baton Rouge. But for most, his decision was the ultimate form of betrayal, with many returning Rebels holding understandable grudges.

However, Ole Miss star QB Trinidad Chambliss isn't one of those players. At least, that's what he's telling the public.

Trinidad Chambliss is Grateful, Rather Than Hateful Toward Kiffin

Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin speaks with Ole Miss Rebels quarterback Trinidad Chambliss during the second half at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

During a recent interview with On3 College Football insider Chris Low, Chambliss exuded gratitude toward Kiffin, rather than taking it personally or as a slight toward his team.

"No hate or any less love for Coach Kiffin," Chambliss said in the interview. "He gave me a great opportunity to come here and play football, and I’m truly grateful for that."

Kind words from Chambliss, indeed. Not to mention, truthful. Coming from Ferris State, Ole Miss was a life-changing opportunity for Chambliss - one that he obviously made the most of.

Of course, that doesn't mean the decision left Chambliss completely unaffected either. Rather, he just found the decision and the situation to be, well, strange.

"Yeah, it was definitely a weird process, him leaving right when we were getting a chance to play for everything we had worked for, and also just because me coming from Ferris State, our coach was there for the longest and he will retire there. I guess I wasn’t used to something like that and used to that situation and how he handled it."

Regardless, there is no denying that were it not for the perfect storm of situations in Oxford last year, Chambliss may not be anywhere near the same position he is in right now.

Kiffin Shouldn't Get all the Credit for Chambliss

Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss celebrates a play during the CFP Fiesta Bowl against Miami | Lauren Witte/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

But even then, Kiffin deserves only some - not all - of the credit for making that opportunity reality.

It was actually Billy Glasscock - the former Ole Miss and now LSU General Manager for Kiffin - who identified and recruited Chambliss to come to Oxford out of Ferris State in the first place. Without him Chambliss to Ole Miss never happens.

He also wasn't the playcaller for Chambliss, that honor belonged to Charlie Weis Jr.

Yes, Kiffin is the one who ultimately signed off on Chambliss coming into the program. He is also the one who put him in the position to take over for Austin Simmons when he did early in the 2025 campaign.

Not to mention, his offense also allowed Chambliss to flourish in ways he may not have been able to otherwise in a different program.

But Chambliss also deserves his credit. He is the one who made the plays that Weis called. He is the one who pulled the rabbit out of the hat on multiple occasions, and he is also the one who seemed to only get better as the stage he was playing on grew.

Perhaps all of that is irrelevant. Maybe its not.

But the one thing that is clear is that Chambliss is saying all of the right things, even when the rest of the world wouldn't bat an eye if he held some feelings of ill will toward his old head coach.

Then again, that is very typical of Chambliss, and at the very least it is admirable that he didn't let a flakey head coach affect his outlook.

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