Model Sydney Thomas’ Selfie With Ex-Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban Causes Speculation He’s Unnamed SEC Coach Who ‘Slid Into Her DMs’

Model Sydney Thomas posted a selfie of herself and former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban, leading fans to speculate he is the Southeastern Conference (SEC) coach who slid into her DMs recently.

Earlier this month, Thomas, who went viral as the ring girl at the Jake Paul–Mike Tyson boxing match two months ago, had revealed that the “craziest DM” she received since the fight was from “another SEC football team coach.”

“They just DM’d me ‘Roll Tide,'” she mentioned, referring to the rallying cry for the Alabama Crimson Tide athletic teams. “So I’m not going to say what coach it was, but they’re an Alabama fan – now, at least.”

“We’ll let everyone else figure that out for themselves,” Thomas added.

On Jan. 13, the model went to X to post a selfie featuring herself and Saban standing side-to-side at the Mr. October Foundation Celebrity Golf Classic.

“Out on the course today with the GOAT #rolltide,” she wrote in the caption.

Users on the platform soon replied to this post, speculating that this was the coach Thomas had been referring to in the podcast.

“It wasn’t [new Alabama football coach Lane Kiffin] in the DMs; it was Saban,” one user wrote on X.

“We know who slides,” another said.

In December 2024, Thomas told a reporter that breaking up with her boyfriend prior to the fight between Paul and Tyson “paid off.”

After the fight had gone viral, she wanted to eliminate distractions from her life. She also jokingly said that she did not know if she was “having a midlife crisis or something” but admitted that ending her relationship was complicated.