The LA Times:

"He made a point to really go to bat for Sanchez," a scout said. "You could tell he meant it."

Carroll told the group that his public frosting of Sanchez -- including the comment the player made a "bad choice" -- was meant to test his resolve, to see if he truly had his heart set on turning pro right away or if he would waffle. Sanchez didn't waver.

"He told us, 'I challenged him. I wanted him to make the right decision,' " the scout said. "He said, 'I love the kid. I support him. I think he'll make a good pro.' "

I cannot claim originality on this.  I didn't know about this until ESPN's Pardon the Interruption caught this.  He said his little cold shoulder at Sanchez's press conference was "a test".  I didn't buy that for a minute and neither did Wilbon.  Those of you on ESPN insider go check out today's PTI show and scroll to the segment on Pete Carroll.

Here's what happened:  Pete woke up, used some common sense and realized, "Oh damn, I need kids to come to South LA and play QB ... if they roll this tape ... and if any other coach in the country rolls tape of Sanchez's press conference to a QB prospect I'm done!  They'll see I'm a petty, scared man who won't help them reach their dream of getting to the NFL, all I care about is USC!  DAMAGE CONTROL!!"  Pete, you're a mile wide and an inch deep.