He Didn’t want to leave Division 2 Ferris State, Now Trinidad Chambliss is tearing up the SEC.
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A few days after leading Ferris State to its third Division II national championship in four years, Tony Annese was on his way to Tampa to watch Michigan practice before the ReliaQuest Bowl against Alabama.
Annese’s phone rang. It was the family of Trinidad Chambliss, Ferris State’s star quarterback, calling to say Chambliss was receiving offers to enter the transfer portal.
“I was like, ‘Technically speaking, that’s tampering, but maybe you should test the waters,’” Annese said.
Chambliss was reluctant. He’d gone to Ferris State, a Division II power in Big Rapids, Mich., as a 170-pound quarterback recruit with no FBS offers. He waited his turn, backing up two other quarterbacks during the Bulldogs’ championship seasons in 2021 and 2022. The opportunity to play Division I football was a dream, but his heart was at Ferris State.
In late December, Chambliss made up his mind. He was staying.
“January, February passed,” Annese said. “Around March, people were starting to hound him. To me, there’s always a certain level of money that might be life-changing. I just said to him, ‘If people are going to give you a lot of money, maybe you need to see what they’re going to give you and get in the portal.’ And the rest is history.”
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Chambliss is averaging 306 passing yards with six touchdowns and one interception in four starts since Simmons’ injury. His name is showing up on Heisman Trophy lists, and fans in Oxford have taken up the banner by waving flags of Trinidad and Tobago, a dual-island nation in the Caribbean.
Chambliss has become such a phenomenon that a reporter from Trinidad and Tobago joined a recent conference call to ask about his connection to the Caribbean. He doesn’t have one — or he didn’t, until recently — but his breakout season has been good for international relations.
“I drive downtown near the square and see some of the flags from the houses and whatnot. It’s just cool,” Chambliss said. “I’m sure a lot of people from Trinidad are wondering why so many flags are being ordered to Oxford, Mississippi.”
Chambliss said his name was inspired by the Holy Trinity, not by any family connection to the country. Though that’s true, there is another part to the story. His parents, Trent and Cheryl, had an agreement: If their child were a girl, they would go with Cheryl’s preferred name, Trinity. If their child were a boy, Trent would get to choose. Trent liked the connection to the Trinity, and he also happened to be a fan of the boxer Félix Trinidad.
“I kind of took a liking to that name,” Trent Chambliss said. “It does have that spiritual connection, the Holy Trinity. It stood by itself, a pretty strong name. I just figured that was a good fit.”
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Annese, 64, has a 143-21 record in 13 seasons at Ferris State, including a 6-0 start and No. 1 ranking in the D-II coaches poll this year. He’s made a Hall of Fame career out of developing overlooked recruits, including Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Zach Sieler, a seventh-round pick in 2018 who signed a $64 million contract extension in August.
It speaks to the depth at Ferris State that Chambliss, a player torching SEC defenses, didn’t become a full-time starter until his fourth year on a D-II campus. The Bulldogs had other quarterbacks in front of him, and he needed time to add about 30 pounds to fill out his point guard’s frame. When he got his chance to start in 2024, he exploded for 51 touchdowns, nearly 3,000 passing yards and more than 1,000 yards on the ground while leading Ferris State to a 14-1 season.
Chambliss also caught the eye of quarterback-hungry teams in the FBS. He wasn’t looking to leave Ferris State, but name, image and likeness offers were difficult to ignore.
“It’s every child’s dream to be able to play at the Division I level,” said Trent Chambliss, an assistant principal at Wyoming High School near Grand Rapids. “With NIL, you end up having that dangling carrot, a large sum of money. It kind of moves people. You’ve got to be strong enough to not move on the emotional charge that you may get.”