GotchaMight have been a misunderstanding in phrasing reading back. There was little oversight of Joss, not that he had little oversight of the comics.
At the time that was considered the plus. That he wouldn't need to worry about (in his words) cranky Season 7 TV stars or Budgets or networks or anything. He could just draw it and that was that.
So we have Buffy sleep with a student while the comic informs us she's definitely not gay.
Xander and Dawn get into a relationship!!
Angel is Twilight and kills loads of Slayers. Buffy finds out and is fine with girls under her care being killed and has sex in space with him that creates a Universe. Angel is then normal again until hes not then he murders Giles and then placed under Faith care.
Spike shows up with a bug space ship and they rekindle a will they won't they relationship.
Joss then does basically a reset on Slayers and Buffy gets a job in a coffee shop and abandons all the other girls she led up the garden path and it ends with rehash of Not Fade Away "lets go to work" The end.
All of which suggests Joss did need restraining and not simply have yes men and women telling him how awesome he was