All this kneeling junk reminds me of the John Wooden/Bill Walton sagas. Bill had grown a ponytail and John had told him to get it it cut. Bill said it was his right and Coach told him that was his right to decide who plays or not. Bill had it cut that day.
Another time Bill wanted to make a political statement at a game and Wooden told him it was nice having him on the team and wished him luck in the future.
May Coach RIP.
I think coaches (& teams/schools) can certainly set clearly demarcations on most things...but doesn't mean it's an absolute tow-the-line.
Let me give three examples...two from this NFL season & one from a college football team over 45 years ago:
(1) Avery Williamson of the Titans NFL won't fine Titans' Avery Williamson for 9/11 cleats
Williamson wore his customized red, white and blue cleats include stars, an American flag-inspired logo and the words “Never Forget” printed on the heel, despite the fact that the NFL had previously told all NFL players 'no':
NFL says no to 9/11 tribute cleats, police unions offers to pay fine
Even if Williamson had had to pay a fine, at least that-s a "win-win" situation for both sides: A player could stick to "free expression" convictions; the league can stick to setting & enforcing boundaries.
(2) Dallas Cowboys & decals on helmets after assassinations of Dallas officers: NFL says no to Cowboys helmet decal honoring fallen officers
(3) Participants in Black 14 incident share views
In this last case, 14 black football players for the 1969 University of Wyoming wanted to wear black armbands for a single game...the upcoming game vs. BYU. They were denied the request once. When they asked a second time, they were dismissed from the team.
They didn't even carry out a plan worth the dismissal.
Why the armbands? Because per Mormon theology, blacks could not be priests in the Mormon church in 1969. [This was true up thru 1978]. Hence, if you couldn't be part of the priesthood (which is every male Mormon 12 & up), then you were not eligible for living forever with God the Father in the Mormon heaven (per Mormon theology, that is).
I vigorously disagreed with the Wyoming coach kicking those 14 players off. Now had they wore the armbands after the coach told them "no," they could have chose to suspend each for a game. But to be kicked off the team for merely making a request? No. Definite overreach!