After spending most of his first three years of high school growing out dreadlocks, Bradley-Bourbonnais senior wide receiver/defensive back Rontez Smith sported a new look when the Boilermakers began their annual summer camp Monday night.

“New beginnings,” Smith said. “I feel fresh. Starting over for my senior year and low key, everything has been coming up good.”

While the Boilers have celebrated a generational three-year run – a 25-win stretch that’s tied for the second-most in a three-year span in school history and their first three-year streak of at least one playoff win – they know they’re writing a new chapter in the fall.

A bevy of multi-year starters, namely 2025 Daily Journal Player of the Year Lyzale Edmon, have graduated, while Mike Kohl, the program’s all-time winningest coach, resigned to focus more on family. But as that new chapter began to write itself with the start of camp Monday, there is a lot of familiarity as far as main characters go.

Joe Kubal is the Boilers’ new head coach, but as a longtime Bradley-Bourbonnais assistant and former Momence head coach, he’s not new to the responsibilities, nor is he new to the rest of the program.

“It’s been a blink of an eye so far, but it’s been pretty smooth for the most part,” Kubal said. “I spoke with each player individually and everyone seemed real comfortable with where we were at, what we were doing offensively and defensively and the transition. Now it’s just a matter of putting in the work and making sure we’re getting the foundation in before we hit it hard in July.”

With comfort and camaraderie pretty advanced for a program welcoming a new coach, the primary objective for this week’s camp is to install some new offensive and defensive schemes.

They’ll also start to look for new contributors. Smith and junior running back Ky’ren Edmon bring back skill position experience, while junior Jamir Burt eyes an opportunity to slide from receiver to quarterback. Seniors Tyrell Berry and Kolten Byrne bring offensive line experience, as does junior Caiden Goddard.

Defensively, the Boilers have a few more holes to fill. Smith is back for his third year in the secondary while junior Kayden Bowens brings size to the back seven and senior Jayden Cooper returns at linebacker.

“This is a big week for learning,” Kubal said. “The kids have to lock in mentally as we put this in, but the goal is the base stuff that we put in, the kids are comfortable with it so when we hit it in July with our three-week padded camp, that we can hit it running.”

Edmon, a three-star recruit per On3/Rivals with offers from Wisconsin, Ole Miss and Ohio and visits conducted to Notre Dame, Illinois, Michigan State, Kansas State and Tennessee, said that although he’s just a junior, he feels plenty comfortable stepping into a bigger leadership role in his third year in the lineup.

“I feel like it’s grown a lot,” Edmon said of his leadership role. “We’ve got a young team right now. We don’t have that many juniors and that many seniors, so we have to stick to our leaders and play with them.”

Smith, who said he has a “great connection” with Kubal, perhaps stood out most amongst seniors being called upon to take charge. As quickly as the last two years have gone, he knows the 2026 season will be even faster.

“I’m cherishing every moment I’ve made,” Smith said. “My mom was right, stay a child as long as you can because life goes like that. But I’m ready. I’m ready to ball out. It’s my senior year and I’m giving 110%.”

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Bradley-Bourbonnais' Tyrell Berry, left, and Kolten Byrne practice a double team block at camp Monday, June 22, 2026. (Mason Schweizer)