On The Plains with Jerrin Thompson: Driven by loss, 'Bug' gets new start

AUBURN, Ala. – Jerrin Thompson might be new to Auburn this season, but everybody around the Woltosz Football Performance Center already knows “Bug.” 

Little did Thompson’s father know that when he started calling Thompson “Lovebug” as a baby, it was a nickname that would stay with his son from when he first started playing football through high school to the University of Texas for four years and now to Auburn. The only people who still call him Jerrin are his teachers. 

The nickname carries special weight to Thompson because the man who coined it is no longer here. His father, Joe, passed away the day after his birthday when Thompson was a freshman in high school. 

“I had just gotten moved up to varsity as a freshman, and he had gotten sick,” Thompson recalled. “He came to see my first game, and then after that, I didn’t have any more conversations with him. He had bad strokes and brain damage. 

“After that, I feel like I had to grow up fast. I feel like I had a purpose to do what I wanted to do. I enjoyed it, but now it’s not for me. It’s for him. Because he really didn’t get to watch me. But I know he’s watching me now.”

It was Joe Thompson who first got Jerrin interested in football back in Lufkin, Texas. When there weren’t enough teams for pee-wee football, Joe volunteered to coach a team to make it work. Naturally his son played for him, and even at 6 years old, it was clear Jerrin had something special. He still remembers playing quarterback and taking bootlegs for touchdowns. 

“I kind of knew I was good, scoring touchdowns,” Thompson said. “I feel like I’ve always been competitive even at a young age. I think that moment when I was bootlegging, and I was already so smart and I could catch it – I thought I had the best hands as a little kid – that’s when I fell in love.” 

Thompson went on to be a star safety at Lufkin High School and signed with Texas as a consensus top-300 recruit. He played 10 games for the Longhorns as a freshman, 12 games as a sophomore and broke out his junior year with a career-high 83 tackles. As a senior last season, he finished with 38 tackles, three interceptions and seven pass break-ups.

And yet, despite earning honorable mention All-Big 12 honors each of the last two seasons, Thompson felt like something was missing. 

“Nothing against Texas. Great school, great program, I love my teammates to death,” said Thompson, who graduated from Texas with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology. “But what made me leave mostly was I didn’t feel like I was developing. I just feel like I needed a new start. I had been at this school for four years. I had my ups and downs there. I just never felt like I was consistently confident in myself.”

That new start has come at Auburn thanks in large part to co-defensive coordinator Charles Kelly, Thompson’s new position coach who ultimately recruited him to the Plains. 

“What really made come here? First of all, it was Coach Kelly,” Thompson said. “Great guy, great coach. He’s a people person. I can relate a lot to Coach Kelly. I felt like the little he knows of me, he’s got a lot of trust in me already, and that’s what you want. You want your coach to have trust in you. 

“I’m just here to play ball. I don’t know what else to say. Coach Kelly was who got me here, and I just know this is a great school. Great defensive gameplan with (DJ) Durkin, too.”

Thomspon arrived at Auburn in January and immediately made an impact this spring. Battling for a starting safety spot, the newcomer was named the Defensive MVP at A-Day with three tackles and a sack on third down that likely saved a touchdown. 

“It kind of reminded me of my freshman year again,” Thompson said of his first spring at Auburn. “But once I got here, going through spring, I’m a vet at the end of the day. It wasn’t hard; I just had to study the playbook and continue to be who I am. At the end of the day, it’s just football, and I feel like one of my best strengths is my IQ and knowing the game. 

“I feel like I was out there helping the younger guys more than really trying to focus on myself, because I know we need guys to be brought along. We’re going to need those guys during the season. It was pretty smooth – probably one of the best springs I’ve had.” 

Earning MVP honors at A-Day was certainly a highlight for Thompson, but that wasn’t his favorite part of the day. That came during pre-game when he got to see the eagle fly around Jordan-Hare Stadium. 

“I just can’t wait for the season,” he said. “I’m really excited.”

Kickoff on the Plains is just over a month away, when Thompson and the Tigers will host Alabama A&M on August 31 in the season opener. After finishing 6-7 last year, the expectations around the program are higher as Hugh Freeze enters his second year as head coach. 

For Thompson, who wasn’t on the team last year, the goal is simple. Win it all. 

“I want to win a national championship,” he said. “You’ve got to set the bar high. We fell short last year, but I feel like we’ve got the caliber of team to do it. 

“For myself personally, I want to make sure I leave a name for myself,” added Thompson. “When I leave here, I want my name to be brought up from this place in a good way. I didn’t get to do that as much as I wanted to (at Texas). I’ve got a new start here, and that’s one thing I’m really trying to focus on: showing people who ‘Bug’ really is.”

As Thompson navigates through this latest chapter in his life and looks to leave his mark at Auburn, nobody would be prouder of “Bug” than his father. 

“It’s kind of crazy. I feel like I only experienced my dad as a kid growing up,” Thompson said. “I was barely a teenager. But I know he would be very proud of me. He used to always brag on me. He was real hard on me, but he used to brag all the time. He’s probably bragging right now.”