‘The top thing is buy-in’: Streator selects Jay Slone as next head coach

Even in a losing effort, the Streator Bulldogs last fall made a strong impression on Jay Slone, the man hired this week to become Streator’s next varsity head football coach.

“It was a crazy game,“ said Slone, an assistant coach for host Herscher during the Tigers' 31-30 win over Streator last September on a last-second field goal. ”I saw the character and the want-to-win from those Streator kids. When I saw that coaching opportunity, I was like, ‘If I get that opportunity, I think I can really do something special with that program.’

“Just walking through the halls, [Streator] just has a different culture. ... And I thought, ‘If I become part of this community, I could really benefit from it and also help these kids in a way they might not have been helped before.’ ”

Slone – a 2013 graduate of Bishop McNamara High School in Kankakee, former standout defensive end at Valparaiso University in Indiana and most recently an assistant for his hometown Herscher Tigers, Streator’s Illinois Central Eight Conference rival – was confirmed at Tuesday’s school board meeting as the Bulldogs' next varsity head coach. Slone also will join the Streator High School staff as a strength and performance/physical education teacher.

He’ll be taking over a Streator program that hasn’t had consistent success since the late 1940s/early 1950s, hasn’t made the IHSA playoffs/posted a .500 record since 2017 and has only one playoff win in program history, that coming in 2008.

It’s a track record that Slone, who met with the team earlier this week and attended Streator’s eighth grade preview night to meet prospective Bulldogs even before his hiring was official, believes he can turn around.

“I think it’s just the little things that are missing – the discipline, the commitment and just being one as a team," Slone said. “I’ve been in a lot of leadership positions in my life and I’ve had some success with that.

“The top thing, I think, is buy-in. The top thing we have to do is hit these weights hard, and we have to be on the same page as a coaching staff, as well as players.”

Slone grew up near Herscher in nearby Buckingham before attending Bishop Mac. He moved on to Valpo, where he was a defensive leader from his outside linebacker/defensive end position, and played a year professionally overseas with the Hangzhou Smilodons of the Chinese National Football League. He began his coaching career at Herscher upon his return to the States at the invitation of Herscher head coach Mike Mosier.

“After that first practice, I just fell in love,” Slone said. “I was like, ‘Man, this is something I love doing.’ ”

Following Kyle Tutt (7-25 over four seasons) and the recently resigned Matt Cloe (3-6 in 2024), Slone is Streator’s third consecutive hire who comes in with years of success in football but without varsity head coaching experience.

“Obviously, his playing background has to carry some weight in regards to his knowing the game and understanding how a high-level practice should run,” Streator athletic director Nick McGurk said. “To be quite honest with you, my impressions of coach Slone early have been he’s wise beyond his years. He’s very polite, professional and enthusiastic.

“Those are three essentials when it comes to building new culture, and he’s going to fit in very well with our renewed emphasis on strength and conditioning.”

As for the X’s and O’s, Slone believes evaluating players on a play-by-play basis using a scoring system that measures alignment, stance, key and effort will lead to accountability, improvement and, ultimately, success. He’s hesitant at this point to talk much about strategy, admitting he’d prefer something like a 70/30 run/pass split, although “it’s all going to be determined by the athletes we have.”

More than playbook philosophy, for now, he wants to concentrate on mindset, dedication and building the winning culture Streator football has been seeking for about three-quarters of a century.

“Just like the mascot, I want some bulldogs,” Slone said. “I want 11 bulldogs on offense, 11 bulldogs on defense. Quite frankly, it doesn’t really matter what offensive scheme you have. You can have the best X’s and O’s, but if you ain’t got the Joe’s, it’s not going to work.

“I’m more focused right now on discipline and character development.”