Update: Oklahoma State -- as in, the university, not the athletics department -- released this statement on Tuesday night:
Everyone wants to return to some degree of normalcy as soon as possible. As for Oklahoma State University, we will adhere to the advice of public health experts who are making informed decisions in the best interest of the citizens of our nation and state based on sound scientific data. We will also abide by the federal and state mandates as well as Big 12 guidelines. We will not compromise the health and well-being of our campus community. This virus is deadly and we will do our part at Oklahoma State to help blunt the spread.
Regardless of what words the statement did or did not contain, the fact that OSU felt the need to clean up Gundy's statement in the first place tells you everything you need to know about the coach's remarks earlier today.
Most everyone in college sports is speaking in tentative terms about when college football can open for business again, but Mike Gundy is not most everyone. Displaying confidence that would make even Dabo Swinney bashful, the Oklahoma State head coach told reporters in a teleconference Tuesday that he wants to open the facility back up on May 1.
"We get people that get the flu during the season, we quarantine them, we treat them, we make sure they're healthy, we bring 'em back," Gundy said. "It would be the same thing here, but at some point, we've got to go back to work. We've got to get these guys back in here.
"From what I read, the healthy people can fight this, the antibodies make it better. They're doing some blood transplants now with the people that have already gotten the disease, that have gotten over it that have the antibodies that can fight it. There's a lot of people who can figure this out. May 1's our goal. Don't know if it will happen. Players will come in after that."
While he stopped short of saying he's 100 percent confident the season will start on time, he also said he'd be willing to play without fans and without students on campus.
Gundy also said the season needs to happen because "we need to run money through the state of Oklahoma."
Whether he realized it or not, Gundy was more or less arguing for the end of amateurism of college athletics -- because there's no way to classify a group of football players who play without students on campus and without fans in the stands as a means to "run money through the state of Oklahoma" as amateurs.
In the meantime, 26-year-old Zac Alley on Tuesday shared his experience with COVID-19, which he described as breathing with a knife in his ribs.