06/26/26 04:54:00
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06/26 15:14 CDT Trinidad Chambliss disagrees with LSU coach Lane Kiffin about
how Black recruits view Ole Miss
Trinidad Chambliss disagrees with LSU coach Lane Kiffin about how Black
recruits view Ole Miss
By BRETT MARTEL
AP Sports Writer
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.
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.
___
AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and
https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
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