Coach Bob Hohne and his staff on the Old Rochester Regional High School girls basketball team are in their last season.

Coach Hohne received a letter from the school on Jan. 7 that all jobs would be posted at the end of the season.

Hohne said that the school wants to take the team in a “new direction,” a term he found confusing. Principal Michael Devoll said that he wants to increase player retention across all levels, restore the freshman level team, make students excited to join the team and increase participation in the face of a South Coast-wide drop in players.

“He's been an outstanding coach here, and he works extremely, extremely hard on behalf of his varsity team,” said Devoll, 

The decision was not about wins and losses as a team, but to improve player experience.

Devoll said in the last 7 to 10 years, there have been graduates who said their time on the team has not been satisfying. 

When he found out about the news of his departure, Hohne told only his captain Mary Butler about the circumstances. He planned to tell the team, but was taken off-guard when he was surprised with a ceremony honoring his career before ORR’s 56-37 win against Canton on Feb 26.

Coach Hohne called the ceremony “inappropriate” and said he would have told players first if he had known about it.

Devoll said that the school did not intend to surprise him, but a question of “how do we do so respectfully to honor him.”

A similar situation arose three years ago when Hohne was informed at the start of the 2017 season that it would be his last. With decreasing participation and disagreements over letting 8th graders play, Coach Hohne was told  then that the school wanted a “new direction” for the team.

After following-up and receiving no clarification, he went public with the news.

But thanks in part to a championship season for the Bulldogs and public support for him, the school allowed him to coach another two years when the seniors at the time would graduate.

“I’m disappointed that I won’t be coaching at OR next year,” said Coach Hohne. “But I’m more disappointed for returning players and future players who will not have the same experience that players for 42 years have had.”

Coach Hohne will still be able to coach girls' varsity tennis, with Devoll stating that “one position is independent of the other.”

It is unclear at this time how Coach Hohne’s departure will affect his summer basketball league.