...talking about a lack of senior leadership on the team. I know the two are related, and if we had seniors (or even some juniors) step up last year to be strong team leaders, it might not have become as toxic as it was...

Don't forget one significant issue was that our starting QB was hurt, and not happy about it. Starting QBs usually assume the role of a team leader. But instead of taking a strong leadership role during his recovery, he seemed to be disgruntled he wouldn't automatically be given the starting job when he was healthy. Since he immediately jumped into the portal, pretty clear he was a crappy team leader.

Add in the team leaders who left early for the NFL, and you have the "storm of the century" on the team. We were practically devoid of any leadership, and that's probably more of what Coach Fu was addressing in that quote.