From a Q and A with Eric Williams.

Q: Jimmy Clausen talked about how it down to you guys and Notre Dame when he came out, was it that close?

Carroll: "Sure, it really was. It was either/or. I’ve told these guys, I watched Jimmy throw since he was a ninth grader. That’s how far back I go, he was 13 when I watching that guy play, and I watched all of his film every year and know the family and all of that and recruited him all the way through the process. And it came down to – he won’t say it – but Mark Sanchez or Notre Dame. And so he made a great choice for himself and did the best he could with it."