The Ole Miss Rebels' fate during the 2026 season hinges on a Mississippi court deciding on Trinidad Chambliss's future. Realistically, there are other meetings to decide that as well. If Chambliss doesn't receive an extra year of eligibility, former Auburn Tiger Deuce Knight will presumably take over the offense in Oxford.
The Lucedale product taking the reins would not give the Rebs the same expectations that Ole Miss would have with Trinidad back in the fold, but Saturday Blitz's Nicholas Rome still tabs the University of Mississippi as a top-15 team in 2026.
Ultimately, Rome framed Pete Golding's second season as one that will have little chance of replicating the CFP semifinal finish from the 2025 season. The Rebels came within one game of the national championship game and lost a 31-27 thriller to the Miami Hurricanes on the last play.
"While Pete Golding led the team on a nice run in the College Football Playoff, his tenure truly starts with the 2026 season. Golding loses plenty of key pieces from Lane Kiffin's roster, while he won't have offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr calling the plays, which is going to lead to a much different look for this offense," Rome wrote.
"The biggest question for Ole Miss is whether or not Trinidad Chambliss' waiver will be approved, as he makes this a Top 5 team if he returns. If Chambliss isn't granted another season, the Rebels will turn to Auburn transfer Deuce Knight to lead this team at quarterback, with just 1 career start. The good news for this offense is that with Kewan Lacy at running back, this group will be just fine regardless after he rushed for 1,567 yards this season.
"It looked like Pete Golding locked down some of the most important defenders, but at the last moment Ole Miss suffered some big transfer losses. Princewill Umanmielen's future is up in the air while the SEC's leading tackle TJ Dottery left for LSU. Suntarine Perkins and Will Echoels are stills olid pieces, but Golding's unit will most likely take a step back in 2026."
Deuce Knight part of the Hugh Freeze problem
Hugh Freeze made several millionaires out of underperforming blue-chips in Mississippi and Alabama. Almost all of them are elsewhere now, clearly not buying into Auburn in the slightest. It's hard to see Knight and Cam Coleman maintaining a good relationship with the Plains after how things went down.
If Cole Cubelic is any representation of the fanbase, and being that he is one-half of Birmingham, Alabama's biggest sports talk radio show, and wore the orange and blue for five years, he's a good one, the outgoing players won't be missed much. Not after their negative locker room impact on many players who could return and prove they were part of the problem.
Freeze was willing to spend money that wasn't his, since, of note, he never renegotiated his contract, ala the Oklahoma State Cowboys' Mike Gundy and the LSU Tigers' Brian Kelly, to help the team with NIL before he was fired, just to establish a reputation for recruiting. Winning games was certainly not the point of his spending.
Only when he was at the end of the line of his tenure did Freeze offer to give money back. Too little, too late. 15 wins in three seasons definitely fits within the "too little" label, especially since Curt Cignetti's Indiana Hoosiers just nabbed 16 wins in 2025.
Knight's off-field issues, since his limited reps on the field showed immense potential, were just symptoms of the failed Freeze experiment on the Plains.
The real Freeze Warning was the one you didn't know you needed until after he was gone.