NCAA denies Mississippi’s request to extend star QB Trinidad Chambliss’ eligibility

By Canadian Press on January 9, 2026.

The NCAA denied Mississippi’s request to extend the eligibility of Trinidad Chambliss on Friday.

The Rebels star quarterback just finished his fifth year of college football in a 31-27 loss to Miami in the College Football Playoff semifinals on Thursday night.

He had planned to return to Ole Miss for one more year if the waiver was approved.

Chambliss took a redshirt his first season at Ferris State in 2021-22 and was held out in his second season for medical reasons. He played two more seasons at the Division II school, and then transferred to Ole Miss before the start of this season. Ole Miss filed the waiver request with the NCAA in November.

The NCAA said Ole Miss and Ferris State failed to provide adequate medical documentation to back up the request.

“Approval requires schools to submit medical documentation provided by a treating physician at the time of a student’s incapacitating injury or illness, which was not provided,” the NCAA’s denial statement reads. “The documents provided by Ole Miss and the student’s prior school include a physician’s note from a December 2022 visit, which stated the student-athlete was ‘doing very well’ since he was seen in August 2022. Additionally, the student-athlete’s prior school indicated it had no documentation on medical treatment, injury reports or medical conditions involving the student-athlete during that time frame and cited ‘developmental needs and our team’s competitive circumstances’ as its reason the student-athlete did not play in the 2022-23 season.”

The NCAA noted that it initially provided a verbal denial on Dec. 8.

“To receive a clock extension, a student-athlete must have been denied two seasons of competition for reasons beyond the student’s or school’s control, and a ‘redshirt’ year can be used only once,” the statement reads. “One of the rules being cited publicly (Bylaw 12.6.4.2.2) is not the correct rule for the type of waiver requested by the school.”

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