There's also the possibility that Petersen doesn't like the idea of his more-complicated-than-the-plot-of-Primer offense being exported to a conference foe, packaged up neatly in a former player's skull. We may not see the point of holding back a would-be fifth string QB in terms of available playing time, but I can absolutely see the value in discouraging a player from bringing your offensive reads/cues to an opponent you'll definitely play in the course of that player's career.
Petersen thinks there's value in Eastern[/i] not knowing who the starting quarterback will be. We're supposed to think he'll just be okay with UCLA owning a copy of the playbook? This isn't petty or malicious, it's just attention to detail run amok. If another program wants to negatively recruit using this anecdote, the proper response would be, "Yeah, I hated to do that to Colson, but I was WAY more concerned at the time with the remaining 85 guys in my program winning as many games as possible. You want to come play for a coach that[/i] anal-retentively[/b] dedicated to winning?"
At this point, I think fears of avenues for negative recruiting are pretty unfounded. I don't see how it would be possible to negatively recruit against Chris Petersen. Unless the PSA in question is a kicker who can hit from 45...