For Mike Gaudette, it wasn’t so much a matter of choice as one of destiny. When the Hartford High boys basketball coaching job came open this spring, he knew he couldn’t let the opportunity pass.
“This is my home and where I played,” said Gaudette, who last week signed on for a second stint at his alma mater. “I thought about it and talked to a few friends, but in the end, I felt I had to apply. This town and this school are special to me.”
A 1987 Hartford graduate who posted a 96-38 record during six seasons at Mascoma before taking over the Hurricanes in 2006, Gaudette went 45-55 during five seasons before stepping down for family reasons days before the 2011-12 season started.
He said he didn’t miss the job that first winter, but five years ago, Gaudette teamed with former Lebanon High football coach Chris Childs to guide the Lebanon Middle School’s eighth-grade hoops squad.
Helping a group that would win an NHIAA Division II title as high school juniors rekindled Gaudette’s fire. He became White River Valley High’s first boys basketball coach after that school arose from the merger of ones in Bethel and South Royalton.
“I had great kids in a community that’s really passionate about their sports,” said Gaudette, who helped the Wildcats go 43-20 and reach last winter’s Vermont Division IV title game, a one-point loss to Blue Mountain. “Those guys worked really hard for me.”
Gaudette asked Hartford athletic director Jeff Moreno to keep his hoped-for return to the Hurricanes quiet, although he told his children and the White River Valley administration.
He didn’t want word to get out on social media, letting his Wildcats players know of the move only after the job was his.
So what’s different about Gaudette this time around?
“I have more patience,” he said. “At Hartford, I tried to build everything overnight, and I put a lot of stress on myself to win games, even though we were the smallest school in Division I for three years. I went slower at White River Valley, and that will be my approach at Hartford this time, too.”
Hartford was 14-5 and lost in the Division II quarterfinals last season, its first trip to that stage of the postseason since 2013. Jeff Thomas, who stepped down to become White River Valley’s principal, rebuilt the Hurricanes program with an emphasis on hard play and personal character.
Hartford loses top scorers Tarin Prior and Jacob Seaver to graduation, along with defensive standout Brandon Potter. Who will become its new front-line players won’t be known for months, but Gaudette is reassured that his new team will be athletic and hard-nosed.
He’s also sure that he’ll enjoy the ride a bit more this time around.
“We want to win, of course, but we’ll enjoy each day, and I know that coaching is a privilege,” he said. “I didn’t realize that when I left before.”
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com.