Agreed and IMO all this could be having a negative effect on the team. It can't be good for team morale.
When an organization finds itself in a vulnerable position and faces intense media pressure, the people in charge will normally try to control the flow of information. The last thing they need is a series of poorly considered statements creating even more problems.
Management can, for example, tell everyone to keep a low profile until the media storm has calmed down. Careless or controversial comments often create more questions than answers, drain energy from the organization, and shift the focus toward all the wrong things.
This falls within the general manager’s area of responsibility and decision-making. So, once again, the problems created by Watson’s comments ultimately become a leadership issue.
You cannot completely prevent employees from speaking publicly, but you can coordinate the communication and try to control the flow of information.
Of course, it is possible that Andrew Berry is deliberately allowing Watson to keep talking and dig his own grave. If that is the strategy, it represents an extremely sophisticated form of leadership requiring long-term and carefully calculated planning.
I would genuinely love to believe that is what we are witnessing. Unfortunately, I have never seen that level of professional management from this organization before.
That is why I lean toward the simpler explanation: most things in Berea appear to be reactive rather than proactive. Things happen to them instead of the organization shaping the narrative and directing events through intelligent leadership and carefully planned communication.
Perhaps Berry really is playing four-dimensional chess and allowing Watson to eliminate himself from the equation. If so, it may be the first master plan in NFL history that looks exactly like nobody has a plan.