By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

For the first time in forever, Jim Lunardi is spending a fall season without football.

Just how many years has he lived without playing or coaching football?

“Zero,” he answers with a laugh.

Lunardi grew up playing the game, starred at Willoughby South High School, won national championships at the University of Mount Union and began coaching the Ravenna Ravens in 1996, sending 2002-2022 as the program’s head coach.

Since 2016, Lunardi has also served as the district’s athletic director.

He is Ravenna football’s all-time winningest coach with 126 victories, while earning six league championships (2004, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2014 and 2018), five playoff appearances (2007, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012) and a 12-8 record against arch-rival Kent Roosevelt.

But Lunardi is not the football coach anymore.

He resigned following the 2022 season and has shifted all of his energy and attention to the Ravenna athletic family.

“The way I look at it is that I have nine years before I am eligible to retire, and I need to make those nine years the best they can be to take all of our programs to the highest level they can reach,” Lunardi said. “That is my job, that is my responsibility.”

Lunardi was thrust into his role as athletic director in the middle of the school year back in January 2016.

It was not an easy transition, but Lunardi attacked it like he has everything else in his life, with focus, determination and an open mind.

“I did not go to school to be an athletic director, so I had to work at it,” Lunardi said. “I asked myself, ‘How do I become good at this?’ I relied a lot on other ADs in the area.”

Even setting up his office was an educational process for Lunardi six-and-a-half years ago.

“I remember I took everything out of the office, and I mean everything, all the way down to the pencils,” Lunardi recalled. “And I put everything back in, one at a time. I wanted to know where everything was. I wanted to know what was in the office so that I knew where to find it. As I put binders or papers back, I read them, educated myself, made calls to ask questions if it was something I didn’t understand.”

It has prepared Lunardi for a vision he has set for himself and the district, which is to rebuild the Ravens’ sports programs across all sports and genders.

He has the experience and city-wide respect to make it happen.

He knows how to build excellence.

It should not be forgotten that when Lunardi took over as head coach of the Ravenna football program in 2002, they were coming off an 0-10 season and the roster had dwindled down to the point that there was no JV or freshman team.

It took passion, time and energy to rebuild the football program.

Lunardi is ready to do it again.

“I think you have to lead by example,” Lunardi said. “You have to be out in front of things, talk to and mentor kids. Show them that you genuinely care about them. It is like anything you do in life, you have to build relationships with people and when you do, that goes a long way. People don’t forget about how you treat team.”

Lunardi does not just talk about it, he lives it.

Last week, there were three freshmen student-athletes that he had not had the opportunity to get to know yet. He bought three pizzas for them and had them eat in his office so they could hang out and talk.

Lunardi is not alone in his quest. He is quick to praise athletic secretary Megan Greene’s expertise.

“Megan is great at her job and you can tell she is determined to do it well,” said Lunardi, who worked with Megan’s father Bill Stone at Willyard Elementary at the start of his career. “She makes my life a lot easier. She takes and returns phone calls, handles emails and so much more — and she even will do it on her off-hours. You are only as good as the people around you and Megan makes us great.”

Which is exactly what Lunardi is pushing all of Ravenna’s teams to be.

He misses football, but does not regret his decision.

“I was taught not to look back. I am looking forward.”

And he is bringing his Ravens with him.