Gregg Doyel of CBS Sportsline.com is claiming that he’s the only one who didn’t think that USC head coach Pete Carroll was being a jerk at Mark Sanchez’s press conference last week, in which the Trojan quarterback declared himself eligible for the NFL draft.

And then he did it, even after Carroll advised him not to. So Carroll spoke about that at the press conference, and everyone heard one thing. They heard Carroll making an ass of himself.

Me, I heard something else. I heard Carroll being fed up. Carroll knew Sanchez had initially been leaning toward staying. Carroll knew that he then told Sanchez, based on conversations with NFL people — and Carroll knows NFL people; he once was head coach of the Jets and Patriots — that Sanchez’s pro career would be better served with one more year of college. And still Sanchez turned pro early.

So who got to Sanchez? Between the lines of that awkward press conference, that’s the question I heard. I heard Carroll wondering who it was that got to his player. Carroll has seen it before, with scumbags getting close to Reggie Bush and even O.J. Mayo on the basketball side of campus. Carroll knows the scumbags are still out there. So was it a scumbag this time? Or was it a family member? An agent? A girl? It was someone, and Carroll’s mad as hell at that person, as well as being mad as hell at Sanchez for listening.

So Carroll went into the press conference and delivered a message.

Here’s the thing. Carroll is one of the smoothest coaches in college sports. He knows how to act, and he knows what to say. He knows that everything he says and does will be dissected. And still he walked into that press conference, with plenty of time to prepare, and did what he did, and said what he said.

You think that was an accident? You think he lost control? You think his entire performance wasn’t planned?

I think it was intentional. I think it was premeditated. So I didn’t hear Pete Carroll being a shortsighted jerk. I heard Pete Carroll being fed up with the real shortsighted jerk in this scenario. I just wish I knew who that shortsighted jerk is.

Mark Sanchez knows who it is. Maybe someday, if his NFL career isn’t everything it could have been, he’ll get mad at that shortsighted jerk himself. Even if that shortsighted jerk is someone in his own family, maybe even himself.

So according to Doyel, Carroll has a master plan to prove his point and that’s why he was a calculated jerk at Sanchez’s presser? Either way, that still makes Carroll egotistical.

If everyone follows and writes about Carroll’s every more, than word would have spread (quickly, might I add) that he wasn’t in favor of Sanchez leaving early. He still could have done the professional thing and sat by as Sanchez made the biggest announcement of his life. Carroll still could have privately voiced his displeasure with Sanchez’s decision and made his point that way.

It’s nice that Doyel wants to play devil’s advocate in this situation and while he makes strong points, it still doesn’t excuse the way Carroll acted. Again, word would have spread whether or not Carroll was behind the decision or not. He didn’t have to go through all of that at the presser to prove his point.

Related Content:

Pete Carroll slightly peeved about Mark Sanchez’s decision to turn pro

USC quarterback Mark Sanchez has decided to skip his senior season and become eligible for April’s NFL Draft.

Here’s Trojan head coach Pete Carroll’s reaction to Sanchez’s decision:

Trojan beat writer Scott Wolf, for example, described the scene as “pathetic”:

USC coach Pete Carroll was extremely ungracious during the Mark Sanchez press conference. He stormed out of the room and did not even sit at the table before Sanchez addressed the media. Something he never did when Matt Leinart, etc., announced their decisions.

Carroll never sat down at the table but stood with his palms on the table. His anger was clear if you spend time around him.

Not a great moment.

Wolf is not known as “Caesar’s” biggest fan, but Rose agreed that Carroll was “peeved,” and that seems to be the reaction that’s picking up steam. Sanchez is earning his degree this spring (from the Annenberg School of Communication, which ain’t no joke), and he said all the right things today. I don’t know where Sanchez is going to be drafted or what kind of career he’ll have, but it seems an especially inopportune time for his coach to tell to a rapt media audience, essentially, “I expect this kid to fail.” I don’t know what else he could mean by pointing out the “less than 50-50” success rate of first round quarterbacks.

I equate Carroll’s reaction to a father who’s disappointed in one of his son’s big decisions. Carroll wants Sanchez to stay in school, get another year of experience under his belt and then turn him loose on the NFL world.

But like a father voicing his displeasure with his son’s decision in front of his friends and peers, Carroll shouldn’t have done it this way. There’s no doubt deciding to go pro was a hard decision for Sanchez and now that he’s made his decision, this should be a time for celebration. Regardless of how Carroll felt, he should have supported Sanchez, wished him luck and then got the hell out of the way. If he wanted to voice his displeasure, he should have done it behind closed doors, which I’m sure he did anyway.

It wasn’t Petey’s moment – it was Mark’s. Yet because Carroll’s ego got in the way and because he wanted to “state for the record” that he wasn’t happy with Sanchez’s decision, he came off as kind of a jerk in my eyes.