Kylan Darnell's TikTok Series Teaching Women About Football Goes Viral. She Reveals Which Pop Culture Moment 'Inspired' It (Exclusive)


Kylan Darnell/TikTok (2) Kylan Darnell.

Kylan Darnell/TikTok (2)

Kylan Darnell.

NEED TO KNOW

  • Influencer Kylan Darnell is trying to make football accessible for everyone
  • The Bama Rush star has created a new TikTok series that aims to teach women about football using makeup terms
  • "I love that it makes sports approachable for people who may have felt left out of the conversation before," she tells PEOPLE

Kylan Darnell is trying to make football accessible for everyone.

The University of Alabama student — who is known for her viral social media videos created during sorority rush season — has gotten the internet's attention again, after she made a video explaining the rules of football for "baddie ball-knower girls."

Her TikTok video — which has garnered more than 200,000 likes since it was posted on Sept. 5 — lays out the rules of the game by comparing quarterbacks to foundation, tight ends to contour and more while using a slideshow to teach the visual learners.

"If you've got a dad, a brother, a boyfriend, a boy friend group who is obsessed with football and you're feeling left out because you don't necessarily know all the things about it, I'm gonna teach you the easiest way to tag along in the game," she began her viral clip. "Because once you know a little bit about it, it's really fun to watch and you'll enjoy it."

Darnell — who often throws a "Roll Tide" underneath her football videos to support her alma mater — saw so much engagement and enthusiasm for her makeup-based explainer video that she decided to turn the video into a series and has shared a number of TikToks since then.

Speaking to PEOPLE, Darnell opens up about how she came up with her video idea and why she decided to try and get more women involved in football culture.

According to the Zeta Tau Alpha member, the idea came out "so casually," and it started the way many of her days do — with some University of Alabama football.

"It was on an Alabama football game day, and I was sitting with friends, and some of them were saying they didn't want to go to the game because they never understood what was happening," she tells PEOPLE. "One friend said she felt lost whenever her boyfriend was screaming about plays that she couldn't follow, and another, who had just started dating a football player, said all he would talk about was football, and she never knew what he was talking about."

"I remember thinking, 'Wait, I can teach you this!' So I started helping them understand the basics, and that's when it hit me," she continues. "I thought, I can teach so many young women out there who feel the same way about football. Football is something I personally love, and I wanted to make it fun and relatable for the girls. And the best way I knew how was to compare it to something in 'girl terms' that we all understand, and that was makeup."

Jason Koerner/Getty Kylan Darnell on May 31, 2025 in Miami Beach, Florida.

Jason Koerner/Getty

Kylan Darnell on May 31, 2025 in Miami Beach, Florida.

Although Darnell says she's been a sports fan all her life, tagging along to her brother's pee-wee football practices and playing flag football in high school, there was a period where her online audience didn't "know that side of me."

"I'm a sports broadcasting major, it’s something I’ve always been passionate about, and seeing such positive feedback from people has been amazing," she shares, adding that a "dream job" down the line for her would be broadcasting with ESPN and College GameDay. "When people comment things like, 'She should be the next Erin Andrews,' it just boosts my confidence and makes me even more excited about pursuing this field."

"Sports media can feel so male-dominated at times, and it’s easy to wonder if you’ll be taken seriously, but the response to my videos has really reassured me that I’m on the right path," Darnell adds.

One of the biggest driving forces in Darnell's love for sports is her father, who supported her love of football and her time as an athlete right from the beginning

"My dad was a college athlete, and my mom was a cheerleader, and he really encouraged my love of sports," she shares. "For me, sports were fun, competitive, and such a great active outlet, and my dad always supported that. He made sure I got to practices on time, no matter how busy he was with work, and he loved teaching me the game."

"I can still remember sitting down with him on football Sundays while he explained the plays to me. It was never, 'Oh, you’re a girl, why are you watching this?' or 'why are you getting involved in this?' — it was the opposite. My dad loved that it interested me and enjoyed being able to teach me about it. It became one of our favorite ways to bond."

According to the TikToker, her dad even serves as a consultant and fact-checker for her sports-related explainers.

"Sometimes, I’ll send something to my dad and ask, 'Does this wording sound right?' and he’ll give me the thumbs up," she jokes.

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As for her near-professional level makeup skills, Darnell says her mom — as well as her time as a pageant girl — helped her hone her craft to the point that she can use it as a football metaphor.

"I actually grew up doing pageants, so my mom was always the one doing my hair and makeup for me," the Bama Rush TikToker shares. "I’d sit and watch her, but I didn’t really start learning how to do it myself until I was a freshman in high school."

"That’s where I’d see all the older girls wearing makeup, and that’s when I began practicing. At first, I was honestly pretty bad at it; my sister was always better at makeup than I was. But with a lot of practice, I eventually became good at it, and now it’s something I love doing."

Darnell also cites Taylor Swift's recent appearances and prominent role at NFL games as she supports her fiancé, Travis Kelce, at Kansas City Chiefs games as another reason she decided to kick off her explainer series.

"I’d see women in the stands or on social media saying, 'I’m just here for Taylor Swift,' but then also admitting they didn’t really know much about sports. To me, that felt like such an exciting opportunity, and it really inspired me," she tells PEOPLE.

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"This new level of pop culture has brought a whole new audience to the NFL, and I love that more women are getting involved in it. It makes the game more fun for everyone, and I wanted to help bridge that gap by making it more relatable for them to understand."

Although she hasn't heard from anyone quite as well-known as Swift, a number of football WAGs [wives and girlfriends] have told her just how meaningful the videos have been.

"I’ve actually had a lot of WAGs reach out, along with a few famous sports broadcasters. And I’ve even had NFL players slide into my DMs with fun comments like, 'This girl knows ball,'" she jokes. "It’s all been super positive feedback, which has been so encouraging."

Even her friends at the University of Alabama have found use for her videos, as they'll walk up to her during a college game and say, "Oh my goodness, I actually understood this!" or "That made so much sense to me!"

"Hearing that kind of feedback is so rewarding, and it shows me the content actually clicks and makes a difference," she says.

As the height of "Bama Rush" mania has passed, Darnell says that she's getting ready to graduate and hopes to continue making her own path — especially if she becomes a sports broadcaster in the future.

"I’d love the chance to bring a pop culture and fashion-forward side that highlights the 'girly side' of sports to the NFL," she shares. "… Ideally, I want to carve out my own lane, blending sports reporting with culture, style and personality, and showing that sports media can be both knowledgeable and fun."

For now, Darnell says she hopes her TikToks get more women into football — and the influencer says she has plenty more ideas in the works.

"Once you understand the basics of the sport, it’s actually so easy to explain them in fun, relatable ways. I played soccer and softball growing up, and my brother played baseball, so I want to break those down too," she finishes. "There are endless directions to take it, and I love that it makes sports approachable for people who may have felt left out of the conversation before."

Read the original article on People





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