WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — It’s the end of an era for Hartford High basketball.
Steve Landon, the school’s boys basketball coach for the last seven seasons, will not return to the team next winter, ending a 24-year tenure with Hartford athletics.
Landon, 49, was the head coach of Hartford’s girls basketball team six years prior to taking over the boys program, guiding the team to its first-ever VPA Division II girls basketball title in 2012.
The news of Landon’s departure was confirmed by Hurricanes athletic director Jeff Moreno late last week and was reaffirmed by Landon on Tuesday, who characterized the split as a mutual parting of ways originating from a closed-door meeting with Moreno during the last week of Hartford’s regular season.
Landon said the conversation lasted five to seven minutes and said he “chose to accept getting done.” Both chose not to disclose what was discussed; Moreno said he initiated the conversation and left the meeting with an understanding that Landon would not return.
“It was a mutual decision, if anything,” Landon said. “There was never any, ‘The parents aren’t happy, the kids aren’t happy, I’m not happy.’ He didn’t say that, ever. I think he could tell that I’m not happy, that’s what it comes down to. I’m not happy.
“As the years have gone on, I’m not happy with the way some of the programs there are supported. I think that’s not anyone’s fault in particular, but I think that my level of patience for that has grown smaller. That made me really rethink whether I wanted to go back.”
The split signals a major shakeup with one of Hartford’s longest-running unsolved puzzles, a boys basketball program that has not won a title since 1929, not been to a divisional championship since 1933, not been to the state semifinals since 1984 and not won a playoff game since Landon’s first year at the helm in 2013.
“Man, he’s tried every way possible to change the culture of basketball in this community,” Moreno said on Tuesday. “He hung a banner on the wall, that hasn’t happened in a long time for basketball. … That was a big moment. It just doesn’t happen.”
Landon’s girls team went 19-5 during the 2011-12 season, defeating Mount Abraham, 48-35, in the D-II final, the program’s first season down a division after 16 years of competing in D-I and only title in its history. Landon went 75-56 overall, 6-5 in the tournament, during his six years as the girls head coach between 2006 and 2012, leading the team to two D-I quarterfinals.
He joined the boys squad for the 2012-13 season and had less success, going 48-99 overall, 1-6 in the tournament, in his seven years with the program. Landon’s boys team made one trip to the D-II quarterfinals during the 2012-13 season — going 12-10 overall — and never made it out of the opening round again.
Landon admitted the idea of stepping down had been on his mind for the last several years; the timing, he said, just seemed right this time.
“During the last four or fives years, I have thought about getting done coaching there,” Landon said. “It didn’t feel like the right time for me, for the program to make that decision. I definitely feel now that is a good decision for me.”
“In no way does it have anything to do with my team this year, last year or any of the teams I’ve had or the kids. … I had more fun with those boys this year than I’ve had in a long time.”
Hartford managed only three wins in 20 games this winter, averaging only 42.4 points per game — the second lowest out of 17 Upper Valley boys teams. The Canes have not had a winning season since 2012-13 and have had only three seasons of finishing at or above .500 in the last two decades.
The problem, Landon said, comes from a lack of support the program receives.
“The feeder programs are tough because we have so many kids from different communities,” Landon said. “You quite possibly could have some players that come to our program, who live in town, that don’t play on the same team until their freshmen year. That’s baffling to me. The answer is no secret: our football program is consistently run from the top to the bottom. That’s difficult to do unless you pay the basketball coach a significant amount more than you already do.”
“I just think that when you look at the history of boys basketball at Hartford, there have been some very good coaches there. We just can’t seem to get over the hump and make it a sustainably good, competitive program. … For whatever reason, we just can’t seem to get our head around how to make that happen.”
Moreno admitted a lack of support may be more valid than he had first realized.
“He’s brought that to my attention,” Moreno said. “I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about it. I think he is raising a lot of good points that I think have some validity to them. It’s a product of Hartford’s basketball culture. … I don’t think he’s wrong there.
“Hartford basketball is a tough puzzle to solve,” he added. “I like to look at it that way, a puzzle that can be solved. We just have to find the right pieces.”
For now, Landon is unclear about his coaching future, though he said he still has more left in the tank. The passion, he said, is still there to coach basketball. The question now is where he may end up and when he may get there.
“I don’t think you will see me not coach again, I will coach,” he said. “I don’t know if it’ll be next winter.”
Hartford has not yet made the job available, with the team’s end-of-season banquet coming up this weekend. Moreno sees a bright future with the Canes, particularly from its class of seven sophomores led by Daniel Bushway (6.8 points per game this winter) and Alex Bushway (5.4 ppg). Now, it’s up to the athletic department to find the right coach to take them to the next level.
“I remember watching this group in middle school,” Moreno said. “I know it’s there. We just have to find the right person to put it all together and hold them accountable.”
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.