The excitement around Ole Miss football never completely left since it lost a College Football Playoff semifinal game in January. In fact, it’s only grown since then.
Important players such as Kewan Lacy, Kam Franklin, Will Echoles, Duece Alexander and others announced their returns. Then the Rebels put together a top 15 transfer portal class, which added to the excitement.
Nothing set off the excitement more than Trinidad Chambliss winning his preliminary injunction hearing against the NCAA, granting him the ability to suit up for Ole Miss next season.
Chambliss coming back was one of the selling points for Ole Miss to use recruiting the transfer portal. For wide receiver Johntay Cook, it was a major reason he chose to come to Ole Miss.
“Trinidad, obviously,” Cook said Tuesday when asked why picked Ole Miss. “I felt like the time was right—right place, right fit. Why not?”
But Chambliss was a big reason why Cook made the move from Syracuse to Ole Miss and the duo have being building their relationship.
“It’s growing and it’s growing fast. It’s been great,” he said. “He’s the best quarterback in the country. Most of the time, all I’ve got to do is be in the right spot and catch the ball. It’s really that simple. He’s a great guy, a great leader.”
None of that is a surprise to Cook, who saw Chambliss play in the CFP, but like always seeing it in-person is a different experience.
“I watched him before—playoffs, games here and there—but being here, practicing with him, actually being on the receiving end of it, it’s different. It’s real,” Cook said.
Ole Miss fans hope Cook is on the receiving end of a lot of Chambliss passes and touchdowns. Cook certainly has the ability. He had 45 receptions for 549 yards and two touchdowns last season.
“I can run the full route tree. I can make the first guy miss,” Cook said about himself. “One thing I’ve really worked on—and I think I’ll be the best I’ve ever been at it this fall—is blocking. Being involved in the run game and helping the team without the ball in my hands.”
Just as important, though, is he has belief from the coaching staff to do that.
“He’s played a lot of football, which helps. When you’ve been in multiple systems, a lot of concepts carry over — maybe different terminology, but the same ideas,” Ole Miss coach Pete Golding said. “The tempo has been an adjustment, but experienced guys adapt quicker. He’s really special with the ball in his hands — short-area quickness, ability after contact, almost like a running back. He’s a matchup problem, especially in one-on-one situations. There’s a lot of versatility in his game.”
Ole Miss has spent the offseason building around Chambliss, and Cook looks like one of the pieces who can elevate the offense right away.
If their chemistry keeps growing the way both say it is, the Rebels might have found one of the SEC’s most dangerous duos.
