As the internet debated the identity of a mystery SEC college football coach who slid into her DMs, viral ring girl Sydney Thomas was photographed hanging out with college football royalty.
Thomas, a student at the University of Alabama, was seen on a golf course with former Alabama head football coach Nick Saban.
She posted the photo with Saban to her social media accounts and captioned the image, ‘out on the course today with the GOAT #rolltide’.
Thomas was one of a number of celebrities present at baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson’s ‘Mr. October Foundation Celebrity Golf Classic.’
In addition to Thomas and Saban, sports celebrities included Pro Football Hall of Famers Marcus Allen, Jim Kelly, Terrell Owens, Emmitt Smith, and Lawrence Taylor as well as baseball stars Jeff Bagwell, Johnny Bench, Barry Bonds, Michael Brantley, Andre Dawson, Ken Griffey Jr., Andruw Jones, Mike Schmidt, Ozzie Smith, John Smoltz, and Kyle Tucker.
Other celebrities included Basketball Hall of Famer Julius Erving – better known as ‘Dr. J’ – rappers Bun B, 50 Cent, and Flo Rida, and musicians Xandra Pohl and DJ Khaled among others.
Viral ring girl Sydney Thomas took a pic with former Alabama football coach Nick Saban
Thomas was one of many celebrity guests at a golf event put on by Reggie Jackson’s charity
Thomas has become a worldwide sensation after going viral ringside during last November’s boxing match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson on Netflix.
Amid her overnight fame the University of Alabama student has been inundated with direct messages from admirers.
And during a recent appearance on the ‘Like A Farmer Podcast’, the 21-year-old revealed she’s even received attention from an SEC football coach who slid into her DMs.
While Thomas opted to keep the identity of the coach a mystery, internet sleuths quickly began investigating and whittling down the options.
But their hunt may have already come to an end as it appears her friend has let the cat out of the bag, allegedly outing Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin as the culprit.
Maddy Muir, a friend of Thomas, shared a photo of a phone screen to her Snapchat, which displayed a DM from Kiffin’s account that read, ‘RTR,’ which stands for ‘Roll Tide Roll’ – Alabama’s rallying chant.
While it is not confirmed that the message was sent to Thomas’s account, the ring girl had previously said that the mystery coach had messaged her a simple message of Alabama support.
‘It was from another SEC football team coach and they just DM’d me: “Roll Tide”,’ Thomas had said during her podcast appearance.
Lane Kiffin (L) has allegedly been unveiled as the coach who messaged Sydney Thomas (R)
A photo appeared to show Kiffin’s Instagram account messaging, ‘RTR’ – ‘Roll Tide Roll’
Thomas’s friend Maddy Muir (left) shared the screenshot to her Snapchat account
‘I’m not going to say what coach it was but they’re an Alabama fan – now at least,’ she added.
Muir, also a student at Alabama, appears to be a close friend of Thomas, posting photos with the blonde beauty and their friends to her own Instagram profile.
Kiffin is currently head coach at Ole Miss, where he holds a record of 44-18 since taking over in 2020.
He was previously married and has three kids, but has been divorced since 2016. In 2024, he revealed he had been sober for three-and-a-half years.
Kiffin previously served as the offensive coordinator for the Crimson Tide from 2014 until 2016, when he was hired to be the head coach at Florida Atlantic.
