Sydney Thomas SEC mystery takes another twist as Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin breaks his silence on rumors
Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin has claimed he is not the mystery SEC college football coach who recently slid into the DMs of viral ring girl Sydney Thomas.
Thomas shot into the spotlight back in November after stealing the show during Jake Paul's Netflix showdown victory over Mike Tyson.
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.
On Monday it seemed as though her friend had revealed the messenger's identity as Kiffin.
Viral ring girl Sydney Thomas took a pic with former Alabama football coach Nick Saban
Lane Kiffin (L) has seemingly shut down claims he is the coach who messaged Thomas
But Thomas posed for a picture with legendary former Alabama coach Nick Saban on Monday, prompting many to speculate he could have been the messenger.
Kiffin jumped on that theory and, in a response to the picture of Thomas and Saban together, wrote: 'We have the answer. RTR (Roll Tide Roll)', which is Alabama's rallying cry.
Thomas 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.
It came after 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'.
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.
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
'It was from another SEC football team coach and they just DM'd me: "Roll Tide",' Thomas had said during her podcast appearance.
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.
