WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — As Nelson Fogg walked into the gym, he kept seeing the red, white and blue swirl all around him.
A couple times a month, the student body at Hartford comes together on Friday mornings for an assembly to go over announcements, play a few fun games and bond together as one.
Fogg’s the principal at Hartford, and the swirl is the Hurricane logo, which is plastered all around the school and athletic facilities.
A high school’s logo is a point of pride in most communities around the country and Hartford’s no different.
But Fogg truly believes that the Hurricane logo is stronger than ever. Students wear it constantly; for many, it’s incorporated into their daily wardrobe. And the swirl’s also become a talking point because of the success of Hartford athletics on and off of the field. A lot of the success has come since Jeff Moreno’s return to his alma mater.
“It’s a direct testament to Jeff,” Fogg said over the phone Friday. “Students are wearing the swirl, adults are wearing it. He takes a tremendous amount of pride in the work that he does and the way he does it. He wants absolutely the best in everything for all of our kids.”
Moreno returned to Hartford in June 2016 when the school district made the decision to eliminate the full-time athletic director role, which was part of the four non-administrative jobs cut to counter Hartford’s $1.1 million budget deficit.
When Moreno moved into the role as athletic director, he was also assuming a role as assistant principal, which put him in charge of curriculum, athletics and extracurricular activities.
And while Moreno takes the other parts of his position seriously, there’s no question that his love for the Canes and sports fuel his fire of always improving Hartford athletics.
As a 1994 graduate and three-sport athlete at Hartford, he knows what winning looks like in Hartford.
In football, he played wide receiver on varsity for four-straight years under legendary coach Mike Stone. All four years the Canes were celebrating state championships in November. As a track and field star, he set a pole vault record that still stands today.
“What he’s doing now as an athletic director, and just being a leader in the school system, it’s not like easy,” said Stone, who is now the athletic director at Lebanon and still talks to Moreno on the phone daily. “His personality just get stronger, but he had the same kind of characteristics when he was younger.”
Part of Moreno’s job is also managing his coaches.
He always has an open-door policy with all of his coaches, and he makes sure that both parties are conversing about the team in-season. Still, Moreno says that all of his coaches are on a year-to-year contract, where nothing in the future is promised.
His track record over the past three years and change at Hartford prove that. This past winter, Moreno and boys basketball coach Steve Landon came to a mutual decision that Landon wouldn’t return next season. The boys basketball program is one of the few unsolved puzzles in Canes’ athletics: They haven’t won a state title since 1929, have not been to the state final four since 1984 and haven’t won a playoff game since Landon’s first season in 2013.
Landon was brought on after helping the girls team win their first-ever VPA Division II title in 2012. He went 75-56 over his six years at the helm of the girls program, but the boys haven’t had a winning season since 2012-13 and won just three games this past winter.
“In the end, it comes down to is the flame still burning hot for you and just not for him?” Moreno said in his office on Wednesday afternoon. “That’s what I look for with all my coaches. Is the flame burning hot for you? Is the passion there?
“Are you able to communicate with the kids, and communication is a two-way street, and that’s where it gets tricky. You might be saying all the right things yet, if they’re not receiving it, then the communication is broken … In its most basic form, as educators, we have to be effective communicators.”
While the parting of ways with Landon may have been one of Moreno’s most prolific decisions, he’s also had to manage other situations, too.
In December 2016 it was announced that Hartford’s field hockey coach Heath Haskell would not return after the Canes went 16-9-2 over two seasons, a decision that Moreno himself made. Haskell told the Valley News at the time that he was “shocked and confused” upon hearing the news.
Moreno then went out and brought back Heather Scudder, who had led Hartford to 11 state championships and made at least the semifinals in 13 consecutive seasons.
“If you’re not putting out an outstanding product, then we’re going to have a conversation,” Moreno said. “That’s my job. And I take that very seriously. I expect everybody that stands in front of a team to give that team all their best.
“Fair, equal. Honesty. That’s very important to me. And if that’s not happening, I will absolutely have a conversation right and work to improve. That goes for me, too. I have those conversations with my bosses. I’m an at-will employee just like the coaches are. I work at someone else’s will and if that will goes away, I go away.”
While having to make tough decisions like letting go of a coach isn’t what Moreno looks forward to, he knows it’s part of his job.
What he does look forward to, though, is making sure Hartford’s always the best it can be, especially in facilites.
So far this fall, the Canes have installed a new scoreboard and game clocks at their football field. They’ve constructed a new press box to store more equipment for game days and are in the process of creating an alumni arch for their entryway to the fields nestled behind Hartford High.
On top of that, Moreno’s led a charge to give a facelift to Wendell A. Barwood Arena. New locker rooms, boards, glass and nets are being built and a new floor has recently been poured. Eventually, new bleachers will be installed too.
That’s not the ceiling for his renovation process, either.
When Maxfield Sports Complex was built and the fitness center was added onto Barwood, a mega-bond between the school, town and recreation department was struck. In that bond a track and turf field was included, but as the project went on, more money was taken out and it was never made.
That’s something Moreno would like to see through.
“I know a lot of voters, myself included, we say we we paid for a track and for a turf field. We just don’t know where it is,” he said. “I won’t rest until we give it to the voters again. And if they don’t want it now, I’m happy. We have beautiful facilities. I’m just, I’m curious, though.”
Leaning back in a chair in his office Wednesday afternoon, Moreno’s happy with how things are coming together at Hartford.
He believes that his decisions will set the Canes up for success in the future. The football team’s led by Matt Trombly, who has them ready for a new season with hopes for a playoff run after an early exit last season.
Hopefully Jeff Thomas, the new boys basketball coach, will work out. Thomas is the former coach at South Royalton and Woodstock, and Moreno’s hopeful he can help establish a strong youth program. But for now, there’s not much else he can do.
He’ll continue to grow the Hartford brand and make sure he’s available whenever needed. With a very strong booster program filled with volunteers at the ready, he knows that gameday for every program will go smoothly.
The 42-year-old plans to stay in Hartford for a while. His wife just got a job in the school district and his kids love their hometown.
“What I love about Hartford is how the people here made me feel and how they prepared me for life,” Moreno said. “I had a great experience here. You know it was rocky at times, but the people here wrapped around me and helped get me through everything, which I appreciated. That’s a big part of why I wanted to be an educator. I realize how much of an impact you can have on people.”
Pete Nakos can be reached at pnakos@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.