More than longevity links Ravenscroft football’s Ned Gonet, Duke basketball’s Coach K

In 1981, one year after then-Duke athletic director Tom Butters brought Blue Devils men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski to Durham, Butters made another recommendation that has had long-term positive results: Butters recommended to Edward Jay “Ned” Gonet, a recently graduated Blue Devils football and baseball student-athlete, that he leave Durham for an open job in Raleigh — at Ravenscroft.

Forty years later, Krzyzewski is preparing to retire from Duke.

Gonet, meanwhile, continues to thrive in the same capacity for which Butters recommended him to then Ravenscroft Headmaster Grover Smith. He’s in his fifth decade as the Ravens’ athletics director and football coach, and Saturday Gonet opened his 55th consecutive season playing or coaching football when Ravenscroft defeated visiting Granville Central, 50-6.

“It’s been a great, rewarding experience for sure,” Gonet said. “Time just moves somewhat quickly. I’ve had to adjust through the decades to understand what motivates, what schedules look like, what family dynamics look like.

“We haven’t won every Friday night, Gonet added, “but we’ve won a good many of them.”

Starting his 41st season, Gonet is on course to match previous Charlotte Catholic coach Jim Oddo (who died earlier this year) as North Carolina’s longest tenured football head coach at one school. Oddo retired in 2014 after 41 seasons.

“I still enjoy going out there and being energized, having the opportunity to mentor our coaching staff,” Gonet said. “Then, just working with kids in general, watching them dedicate themselves to the process and having some degrees of success on different levels.”

Success, to Gonet, was summed up 41 years ago the same as it is today, encapsulated by a single tweet from the Ravenscroft account Saturday night, part of which read: “Everyone played!”

“The value of a successful win is that you can give everyone an opportunity to play in the game,” Gonet said. “They’ve got to feel really a part of the process.

“I’m a teacher and educator trying to get them some kind of value system within the game.”

Clarification

A high school football game that begins (kicks off) must have an outcome, per National Federation of State High School (NFHS) Associations policy.

Thus, schools whose games included weather delays Friday and Saturday did anything and everything possible to complete their games. Schools cannot agree mutually to declare the game a “no contest.”

Win-win for Locklear

Cleveland quarterback Skyler Locklear concluded last week by helping the Rams — last spring’s NC 3AA runner-up — to a season opening win and announcing his college plans.

Locklear completed 10 of 14 passes for 118 yards and one touchdown in Cleveland’s 52-0 home win over Cary on Friday.

On Saturday, Locklear committed to Austin Peay.