Trinidad Chambliss disagrees with LSU coach Lane Kiffin about how Black recruits view Ole Miss
Mississippi quarterback Trinidad Chambliss says he doesn't agree with comments first-year LSU coach Lane Kiffin made last month that Ole Miss’ past embrace of Confederate symbols made recruiting Black players more difficult
THIBODAUX, La. (AP) — Mississippi quarterback Trinidad Chambliss on Friday took issue with first-year LSU coach Lane Kiffin's recent comments that Ole Miss' past embrace of Confederate symbols made recruiting Black players more difficult.
“Me, personally, I don’t agree,” said Chambliss, who was coached by Kiffin last season. “I don’t think that what he said was truthful. ... The Oxford community is nothing but love and they care about their people no matter what they look like: brown, black, purple, yellow — you know what I mean?”
Kiffin, who is white, coached at Ole Miss from 2020 to 2025. He oversaw the Rebels' 11-1 regular season in 2025 but left for LSU before the College Football Playoff in a move that has since brought much scrutiny to college football’s recruiting calendar.
In May, Kiffin was featured in a Vanity Fair magazine article in which he described prospective Ole Miss recruits telling him: "Hey, coach, we really like you. But my grandparents aren’t letting me move to Oxford, Mississippi.”
“That doesn’t come up when you say Baton Rouge, Louisiana," Kiffin added in his comments to Vanity Fair.
Kiffin wanted to coach the Rebels in the CFP, but Ole Miss wouldn’t allow it because Kiffin also would have been simultaneously recruiting for LSU. Without Kiffin at the helm, Chambliss nonetheless led the Rebels into the national finals with a scintillating CFP quarterfinal performance against Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.
Chambliss, who is participating this weekend in the Manning Passing Academy as a counselor, said he still thinks highly of Kiffin, will always appreciate the opportunity Kiffin gave him at Ole Miss and does not harbor hard feelings about the way Kiffin left the program.
Recommended for you
However, Chambliss sounded eager to point out that his experience in Oxford did not match Kiffin's comments to the magazine.
“The people in Mississippi and Oxford showed me nothing but love,” Chambless said of a visit he made before deciding to transfer to Ole Miss from Ferris State.
“One thing that I can really take away from my visit and the reason why I did commit to Ole Miss is I asked my family what they genuinely thought about the visit, what they thought about the people, if they trusted what they were actually saying, if they’re gonna be true to their word,” Chambliss added.
“They said, ‘I feel like this is the right place.' And my mom’s super religious, too, and she just had a good feeling,” Chambliss said. “We prayed on it, and that was the main thing. ... So, I felt like Oxford is home and it’s a great place.”
Kiffin will be back in Ole Miss' Vaught-Hemingway Stadium — but on the visitor's sideline — on Sept. 19 when LSU visits the Rebels. Pete Golding, who had been a defensive coordinator on Kiffin’s staff, took over at Ole Miss.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.