Nick Saban on Trinidad Chambliss: ‘That guy is the playmaker of all playmakers’
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Nick Saban coached a few great quarterbacks in his day, whether at LSU or Alabama, and those signal-callers helped the legendary head coach become the legend that he is.
Now, in 2026, Saban is an ESPN analyst who likes to break down those great SEC quarterbacks. Like Ole Miss‘s Trinidad Chambliss, for example, who is arguably the best QB in the country and who just last week helped the 4th-ranked Rebels take down Lane Kiffin and LSU in a signature victory in Oxford.
But no rest for the weary, as the saying goes, especially in the SEC, and this week brings Chambliss and his team a new challenge as they head to The Swamp to face a surging Florida team that’s now ranked at No. 21. The Gators will look to knock Chambliss off the perch that he’s ascended to in the quarterback ranks, and they’ll look to knock off an Ole Miss team that is 3-0 with designs on a national championship.
Not so fast, said Saban, who had the highest praise possible for Chambliss during his weekly Friday afternoon appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. Kickoff on Saturday is at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC, when once again the country will get to see Chambliss perform on the big stage.
Saban can’t wait.
“I’m going to tell you one thing I learned last week. I’m never picking against Trinidad ever again,” Nick Saban said. “I mean, that guy is the playmaker of all playmakers. You talk about a point guard who can score and create plays for other people in a game. Nobody does it better than him.”
McAfee gave “respect” to Saban for picking against Chambliss last week, for going with LSU in Oxford. Saban thanked McAfee, but his wrong pick in that matchup made Saban regret the pick and made him reveal that, yes, he’ll never pick against Chambliss again.
Chambliss will indeed go from 1 big SEC challenge to another in Week 4 when he leads Ole Miss into The Swamp for a showdown with Florida. Here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying about which team has the edge in the battle in Gainesville:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
