Giving back to the community is important to Michigan State junior defensive lineman Jalen Thompson.
He has run youth football camps in both his hometown of Detroit and in Lansing. The camp he organized in Detroit last summer supported anti-gun violence initiatives, while he also previously hosted a "Cleats 4 Kids" camp at Lansing Everett High School as well.
On Tuesday, Thompson explained that he had a senator and non-profit organizations come out to educate kids about guns and gun safety in Detroit last year, and that he also coached the campers – aged 6-to-14 – through football drills. Meanwhile, the Lead Foundation provided cleats for all the camp participants at the "Cleats 4 Kids" event, and Thompson lead the camp and put the kids through drills and various football activities.
These endeavors have led to Thompson being MSU's nominee for the inaugural Big Ten Jackie Robinson Community & Impact Award, along with Skyla Schulte from the gymnastics team, on April 7.
The award was established in 2025 and recognizes "student-athletes at Big Ten institutions who strive to have a positive impact not only in their chosen sport, but also within their community."
For Thompson, the honor means a lot, and he will continue to find ways to serve his community.
"I feel like it's my responsibility – I hope that everything that I try to pour into them, I hope they take that and use it for themselves and use it for others as well, and tell those around them, get them ideas, get them tools and get them resources," Thompson said in a statement earlier this week. "Just knowing that you can give back to those who look up to you, your followers, your family, I feel like as much as you can, while you are here, while you are doing it now, let's give back. It's an honor to be nominated for the Big Ten Jackie Robinson Community & Impact Award."
While Thompson stays busy off the field, he also is putting in the necessary work to improve on it. The Spartans are now 10 practices into their spring football schedule.
Following Tuesday's spring practice, Thompson and Michigan State defensive line coach Legi Suiaunoa, spoke about the third-year defensive end's individual growth, improving the pass rush as a team and more, in addition to his community service projects.
"Jalen, he’s a special athlete," Suiaunoa said about Thompson. "He’s got a lot of qualities, that's gonna allow him to hopefully, knock on some wood, that if he continues to get better, he's gonna do this (play football) for a long time. And so, I think the biggest growth is that he's got a year in in the system, number one. I think that always helps because now we've got tape of a year of him executing what we want to execute. So, I think he's gonna grow that way in terms of just the football IQ piece, and what he can and can't do in this system.
"And then physically ... the strength and conditioning staff (has made a difference). Even (Thompson), who has played a lot of football, he looks different now than he did a year ago. These guys got all their weights up, they're sustaining them, that alone is gonna give them a chance. Being a year in the system and obviously getting bigger, faster, stronger from the winter break, we just believe he's having a great spring for us, and for us, it's not a surprise because of the work he put in before spring started."
Thompson enters his junior year in East Lansing in 2025. With the current landscape of college athletics, player movement through the transfer portal is inevitable, and it is becoming increasingly more rare to see athletes stay at one school for three years or more.
However, Thompson — who played his high school football at Cass Tech in Detroit — feels at home with Michigan State and is right where he wants to be. He has not really entertained thoughts regarding the transfer portal at this point in his career. Thompson is close with his teammates, and he is eager to continue to learn from head coach Jonathan Smith, Suiaunoa and the rest of his staff.
"I just feel like I stayed true — loyalty is a big thing," Thompson said about staying at MSU. " I just feel like the guys that (are) around me (are) here to support me. Coach Smith, family, everybody in here is here to support me, so I stay with my family because I know they'll support me."
As Suiaunoa mentioned, the strength and conditioning staff — lead by head strength and conditioning coach Mike McDonald — put in a lot of work to build the Michigan State players' bodies during the winter. Thompson has gained 15 pounds, going from 245 pounds in 2024 to 260 pounds in 2025. He said he is able to maintain his quickness as well.
"I'm way bigger than I was last year, so I like playing (at that weight)" Thompson said. "But definitely knowing that I want to get to the next level, I gotta play way heavier than what I was last year. I still move the same."
Perhaps adding weight and strength will benefit Thompson. After a breakout year as a true freshman in 2023 in which he recorded 19 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, two passes defended and a forced fumble in just eight games, he struggled as a sophomore in 2024. Thompson amassed just 17 total tackles, two tackles for loss and zero sacks in 12 games last year.
Thompson was not the only Spartan who struggled to get to the quarterback in 2024. MSU finished the campaign ranking 16th out of 18 teams in the Big Ten with a mere 19 sacks. The Spartans also had a putrid stretch of six consecutive games in which the team did not record a single sack at one point during the season.
For Thompson, he knows he was close to making some plays last year and came close to having more sacks. He is reviewing the film from last year to correct his mistakes and is striving to improve.
"More so with me, it was angles," Thompson said about his lack of pass-rushing success in 2024. "I was taking some bad angles, I wasn't taking the deep, shorter angles that I should have been taking. And definitely, watching back at the end of the season, (the coaches) made me a whole cut up showing all these missed opportunities that I missed out on, and that was probably the biggest takeaway for me was them angles, taking the right angles to quarterback ... Just seeing it from the camera, just being there, like, 'I missed it.' But seeing it from the outside looking in, it's like, 'Dang, I'm one step away.' Or, "One angle, just take a little step more this way, I could have made the play.'"
An improved pass rush as a defense is a big emphasis for Suiaunoa, defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Joe Rossi, Thompson and the Spartans in 2025.
"Coming into this year when we broke down as unit, Coach Rossi emphasized (that) we've got to put more pressure on the (quarterback)," Thompson said. "We're making new plays, we've got new schemes coming in where it's like we're gonna put more pressure on the quarterback."
Michigan State held its first team scrimmage of the spring this past Saturday. Thompson noted that he enjoyed seeing the defense "come together" and "work as one," and that the coaches were letting the players learn from their mistakes.
He also explained how the play of the linebackers helps the defensive line in Rossi's scheme.
"It's a vertical style defense, so we're allowed to play straightforward and the (linebackers) play off of us," Thompson said. "It's great because it allows us not to worry about getting in this gap or getting in that (gap). If I take off and go straight, forward, if I do get reached, the 'backer is gonna come over the top. So, it definitely makes it harder on the O-line to pick everything up."
Thompson complimented graduate senior defensive lineman Quindarius Dunnigan for the way he has played this spring and how comfortable he has gotten in his second year at MSU now. Thompson also praised the play of MSU's group of rush ends.
Notably, Thompson also praised the progression of redshirt sophomore left tackle Stanton Ramil, who also enters his third year at MSU, and Montana State transfer right tackle Conner Moore, who joined the Spartans in January. Thompson battles the offensive linemen in practice and likes what he sees from the tackles.
While Thompson is primarily used as a strong-side defensive end with his hand in the dirt, he expects to be moved around the defense in pass-rushing situations.
"Pass-rush wise, I play literally all four (positions) — I play the rush position, I play the end position and I play interior," Thompson explained. "But in base and nickel, I'm sticking to end, playing end."
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