While the Internet debated the identity of a mysterious SEC college football coach who slipped 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 spotted on a golf course with former Alabama football coach Nick Saban.
He posted the photo with Saban on his social media accounts and captioned the image, “on the field today with GOAT #rolltide.”
Thomas was one of the celebrities present at the 'Mr. October Celebrity Golf Classic Foundation.'
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 photo with former Alabama football coach Nick Saban
Thomas was one of many celebrity guests at a golf event hosted by Reggie Jackson's charity.
Thomas has become a global sensation after going viral in the ring 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 fans.
And during a recent appearance on the 'Like A Farmer Podcast,' the 21-year-old revealed that she even received attention from an SEC football coach who slid into her DMs.
While Thomas opted to keep the coach's identity a secret, Internet sleuths quickly began investigating and narrowing down the options.
But her search may have already come to an end, as it appears her friend let the cat out of the bag, allegedly pointing the finger at Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin as the culprit.
Maddy Muir, a friend of Thomas, shared a photo of a phone screen on her Snapchat, showing a direct message from Kiffin's account that said “RTR,” which stands for “Roll Tide Roll,” the Alabama chant.
While it is not confirmed that the message was sent to Thomas' account, the ring girl had previously said that the mystery coach had sent a simple message of support to Alabama.
“It was from another coach on the SEC football team and they just texted me, 'Roll Tide,'” Thomas had said during his appearance on the podcast.
Lane Kiffin (L) has reportedly been revealed as the coach who sent the message to Sydney Thomas (R)
A photo emerged showing the message from Kiffin's Instagram account, 'RTR' – 'Roll Tide Roll'
Thomas' friend Maddy Muir (left) shared the screenshot on her Snapchat account.
“I'm not going to say which coach it was, but they are Alabama fans, at least now,” he added.
Muir, also a student at Alabama, appears to be a close friend of Thomas and posts photos with the blonde beauty and her friends on her own Instagram profile.
Kiffin is currently the head coach at Ole Miss, where he has a 44-18 record since taking over in 2020.
He was previously married and has three children, but has been divorced since 2016. In 2024, he revealed that he had been sober for three and a half years.
Kiffin previously served as the Crimson Tide's offensive coordinator from 2014 to 2016, when he was hired to be the head coach at Florida Atlantic.