To be fair, my read of this article suggests that what it calls "Sysadmin" was, at the time, called "Network admin" and tended to include a significant helpdesk

To be fair, my read of this article suggests that what it calls "Sysadmin" was, at the time, called "Network admin" and tended to include a significant helpdesk component. What I remember being called "sysadmin" that might have included thicknet ethernet or servers with reel-to-reel tape drives is now "devops" almost everywhere I look.