THIBODAUX, La. — Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss took issue Friday with first-year LSU coach Lane Kiffin’s recent comments that the University of Mississippi’s past embrace of Confederate symbols made recruiting Black football players to Oxford more difficult for the Rebels.
Chambliss joined Ole Miss as a transfer last year and became the starting quarterback for the Rebels during the season, Kiffin’s sixth as the program’s head coach. Kiffin left after the regular season to take over at LSU, but Chambliss and the Rebels advanced to the semifinals of the 12-team College Football Playoff.
“Me, personally, I don’t agree,” said Chambliss, who is Black. “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’s exit last fall has since brought much scrutiny to college football’s recruiting calendar.
In May, he was featured in a 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.”