Ole Miss transfer quarterback Trinidad Chambliss has quickly taken the college football world by storm after starting the last two games for Lane Kiffin in relief of injured Week 1 starter Austin Simmons. And this led to some high praise from the cast of ESPN’s College Football Final on Sunday. That praise was also a bit of an inadvertent dig at Chambliss’s former program, Ferris State, which Ferris State athletic director Steve Brockelbank took exception to.
Chambliss has made the most of his opportunities with Simmons on the sideline, throwing for over 300 yards in each of Ole Miss’s last two games. And more importantly, Chambliss has led Ole Miss to two straight victories, maintaining the program’s undefeated record on the year in the process.
This has led to Chambliss even entering Heisman conversations as a dark-horse candidate early on in the season. And when recapping Chambliss’s performance in the team’s Week 4 win over Tulane on Sunday’s edition of College Football Final, ESPN college football analyst Joey Galloway questioned how Chambliss was initially playing at the Division-II level with Ferris State and not at a high-profile Division-1 program.
“How did he end up at Ferris State?” said Galloway. “He is the real deal. 300 yards passing, 112 yards rushing. A couple of touchdowns. He has been amazing.
Most people largely saw this comment from Galloway as a compliment to Chambliss and his talents that have been on full display thus far. However, Ferris State AD Steve Brockelbank saw it differently, taking ESPN to task for not recognizing the fact that Ferris State has won three Division II National Championships since 2021.
“How did Trinidad Chambliss end up at Ferris State?” wrote Brockelbank in a post on X, referring to Galloway’s comment. “Well let me help you out. We win, we have coaches who can flat out recruit and develop student-athletes, and it’s a great place. Stop asking dumb questions! @ESPN.”
On one hand, Brockelbank does have a point. It can almost be a better path to Division 1 success for prospects like Chambliss to attend a school like Ferris State initially and develop their talents, rather than sitting in a high-level Division 1 program early in their career.
It didn’t really seem like Galloway was trying to intentionally throw a shot at Ferris State in particular. Rather, he highlighted how Chambliss may have been a Division 1 caliber player all along.
Either way, Brockelbank clearly doesn’t feel that ESPN, as a network, gives high-level Division II programs like Ferris State as much respect as he believes they deserve. And given the track record that he and longtime Ferris State head coach Tony Annese have had in recent years, he may very well have a valid argument.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.