Thanks to the blog on the New England Patriots official website here are some thoughts from former UConn offensive lineman Donald Thomas regarding the retirement of UConn men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun and the promotion of Kevin Ollie to head coach.

Here's the portion of the blog featuring Thomas' quotes


“Wow!” said a stunned Thomas, who grew up in New Haven. “As long as I’ve been a kid growing up in Connecticut, it’s been Calhoun and (UConn women's basketball coach Geno) Auriemma. I mean, that’s going to be a big blow for UConn, UConn’s family, the whole state of Connecticut. You know, he’s had a lot of health issues lately. You don’t want to see the guy suffer. Every year, it’s something new.

“He knows what he’s doing. He’s going to make the best decision for himself… we’ll see what happens with the program, how they rebuild. Whoever steps up has some big shoes to fill.”

Regarding Ollie's promotion Thomas said “Oh, well, I kind of figured that, too, when they brought him in to groom him. So, it shouldn’t be too much of a drop-off. He’s going to bring some more young energy to it. It might even be a more exciting basketball team to watch. You never know.”