In exactly one week, Ole Miss coach Pete Golding and three players will take their turns in the spotlight that is SEC Media Days.
On Wednesday, the SEC announced the full list of players that’ll be attending the four-day event in Tampa, Fla. Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, running back Kewan Lacy and defensive tackle Will Echoles are the three Rebels that’ll make the trip with Golding.
Last week, we had some fun and came up with five questions we’d want to ask Golding if he was given a truth serum before walking up to the podium. Five questions that would shed light on some rumors and answer questions about who starts at certain positions.
Now that we know which players have been tapped to attend Media Days, we can do the same exercise with them.
And we’ll start with the position that comes up first in every team’s season preview: the starting quarterback.
Here are the five questions we’d love to hear Chambliss answer truthfully and directly.
When did you realize that you had taken the starting QB job from Austin Simmons?
Not when did former coach Lane Kiffin tell him he was the team’s starting quarterback, but when did Chambliss know he had taken the job?
Was it the first game he started against Arkansas? Or was it during the next week’s game against Tulane? Or was it in a practice? Or did he wake up one morning and have the sudden realization?
But it would intriguing to know, deep down, when did Chambliss know he was the Rebels’ quarterback. It would also give some insight into how confident he truly is in himself.
What recruiting did Lane Kiffin and LSU do before and after Kiffin officially left Ole Miss?
We could come up with five questions specifically about Kiffin and his messy departure from Ole Miss. One of the biggest themes during that months’ long soap opera was speculation about how many Ole Miss players Kiffin would bring with him to LSU.
Turns out it was only four, but it’s a safe bet Kiffin and LSU tried to recruit Chambliss and several others.
So, what exactly did they do for Chambliss? Did Kiffin talk to him personally? Or did he talk to Chambliss’ agent? What did LSU offer him? How hard was Kiffin and LSU pushing for him to leave Ole Miss? What disparaging things did Kiffin (or some LSU representative) say about Ole Miss?
We know it happened and there’d be nationwide interest in Chambliss’ answer. For his situation specifically, but also as a general insight into what likely happens with every great player on every team.
Which other schools tried to recruit you through back channels at the end of last year?
LSU gets most of the attention on this front, and rightfully so. But we’re fools to think LSU was the only school interested in Chambliss.
Would anyone be surprised if one or all of Florida, Auburn, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas Tech, Georgia, Clemson (oh, the irony!) or Miami did some back channel recruiting? No, we would not.
So, let’s hear it. Who were the ones working those back channels and getting messages to Chambliss to gauge his interest?
Which SEC defender do you least want to get hit by?
There has to be some fun questions mixed in here and here’s one.
This is a question that could be realistically asked, but its doubtful we’d get a specific, direct answer. The answer would be something generic about the SEC being full of elite defenders who hit hard and Chambliss doesn’t want to get hit by any of them. Then he could talk about the offensive line being great and him not having to worry about getting hit hard.
Chambliss also wouldn’t want to give any defenders confidence or motivation to hit him really hard. But those are boring answers.
The fun answer is if he names a specific defender. What about ex-Rebel TJ Dottery at LSU? Or Georgia’s CJ Allen? Maybe Texas’ Collin Simmons? There’s plenty of choices.
Did the NCAA cost you a spot on the cover of EA College Football 27?
We’ll end with another question that could realistically be asked, but just like with NIL dollar figures players, agents, media say are being offered, can you really trust the answer?
One of the arguments made earlier this year as Chambliss was fighting the NCAA in a Mississippi courthouse was that his eligibility concerns prevented him being on the cover of the popular video game.
It would make sense. Chambliss was one of the biggest stars of last season, won two playoff games and established himself as one of the best quarterbacks in the nation. He’s a slam dunk choice to be on the cover.
But was it actually something EA was wanting to do? If so, was the question about eligibility the reason why it went in a different direction?
It’s not the most impactful topic. But it keeps with the theme of these questions and that is fun and intriguing.
