USC coach Pete Carroll contacted quarterback Mark Sanchez on Friday and apologized for the perception of Thursday's news conference in which he said the junior should not have gone to the NFL, the Los Angeles Daily News reported.
Carroll was criticized for his comments and demeanor during the news conference. Carroll left the room before Sanchez took questions from the media and appeared upset.
Carroll released further statements Friday regarding the media backlash.
"Mark's got all my support,"
Carroll said. "Always has, always will. But part of that was he needed to know the truth. I wasn't going to hide the facts, that would be doing Mark a disservice and would be disingenuous."
"Mark knew all this information and knew exactly what I was going to say at the press conference ahead of time, but he wanted me there anyway. I did that press conference for Mark, not for me."
Carroll told the Los Angeles Times that since arriving at USC before the 2001 season he has approached his coaching responsibility "from the perspective of how a parent would look after their kid going through here."
"If your child decides to do something that you know isn't what you agree with, I think you bag out on him to not show him your true self, for what you believe,"
he said. "That's the bottom line here. And I don't mind standing for that."
Carroll said he would have said the same things he said at the news conference if his own son was the player in question.
"I'm the football coach,"
he said, chuckling. "If he's playing for me I would have done exactly that."
Asked if he had any regrets, Carroll said, "No. Maybe I could have sat down for it,"
he said. "Or they could have had the podium there so I could have stood up. . . . I was ready to battle."