That engenders a certain level of trust. You can be a bit more honest with your team than you might be with the public at hand. If it stays in house all is well. I guarantee you, thousands of comments like that are spoken by coaches, players, trainers, cheerleaders...everyone. It's only an issue when it goes outside the circle of trust...and in this case it's still not an issue. He was worried about keeping the team level. That's it.