No, Gundy does not get to say whatever he wants. No one would ever claim that and I am sure you know that. You have to exercise professional judgment to be able to tell the difference between comments like the hypothetical one you came up with and what Gundy said. The hysterical article you wrote is only justified in response to comments that any reasonable person would agree are outrageous and intolerable.
Nothing Gundy said even comes close to that level. In fact, his comments were similar to comments most of us have heard from our neighbors. I can imagine a group of small businessmen saying very similar things over coffee and no one batting an eye. Why should Gundy be held to an infinitely higher standard than other laymen when he makes very clear that he is speaking as a layman?
Is he not allowed to say anything other than, “I am not a doctor and will defer to Oklahoma health officials before making any further decisions.” That is what most coaches have said, but is there no room for independent thought on something as complex as a pandemic response?
I appreciate that PFB has been open about the fact that the response to the coverage has been negative and financially damaging. You rarely get that kind of transparency from journalists. I hope you ask yourselves why. It would be easy to chalk it up to the fanbase rushing to defend Gundy, but that is wrong. Most fans are not upset because they always side with Gundy. Look at Robert Allen, who is the biggest Gundy defender of all. He is a joke to most OSU fans and lacks all credibility. The article struck a nerve because it was a hysterical response to an unremarkable opinion. It also came across as sanctimonious and personal. A response this bad from a group of generally smart and good people should cause the PFB team to carefully reflect on whether it went too far.
Some members of the PFB team seem to see themselves as caped defenders of the empire from the forces of groupthink and hero worship. You do play some role in preventing those things, but it is not your main duty. If you find yourself looking for something wrong just so you can offer a check, you are probably doing too much. The opportunity to provide a check on a coach’s abuse of power should be very rare and will rarely, if ever, stem from opinions he states in a press conference. The opportunity to be a hero might come up some day, and if it does, I hope you are courageous enough to seize it. But if it does not, you still have a cool job.