Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME record — but fell to No. 13 this year on Athlon after an 8‑5 mark with the Broncos. Conversely, prior to the 2013 sea‑ son, who could have envisioned that Michigan State's Mark Dantonio would be in the top 10 after a 7‑6 re‑ cord in 2012? However, a 13‑1 finish, highlighted by a Rose Bowl victory over Stanford, has put him at No. 8 — just ahead of Notre Dame's Brian Kelly at No. 9. Florida State's Jimbo Fisher is No. 7. Despite Kelly's 8‑5 marks in 2010 and 2011, and 9‑4 last year, his No. 9 ranking was based on consistently building winners at Grand Valley State, Central Michigan, Cincinnati and Notre Dame, highlighted by 12‑0 regular seasons with the Bearcats in 2009 and at Notre Dame in 2012. Other Notre Dame coaching op‑ ponents in the top 20 include Stan‑ ford's David Shaw (12th), Louisville's Bobby Petrino (16th), Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald (18th) and Arizona State's Todd Graham (19th). Michigan's Brady Hoke and USC's Steve Sarkisian are 38th and 44th, re‑ spectively. Brian Kelly Open To Talking About Player Union Irish head coach Brian Kelly said he would be willing to listen if his players wanted to discuss following in Northwestern's footsteps and taking action to start a union. The National Labor Relations Board ruled earlier this month that football players at Northwestern can be viewed as employees and have the right to unionize if they so choose. The Wildcats are expected to vote on the idea, first raised by graduated quarterback Kain Colter, at the end of April. The proposed union would fight to get better medical coverage for players and scholarships to cover the full cost of attendance at Northwestern. Even‑ tually, players could collectively bargain for other benefits and/or salaries. No Notre Dame players have spoken out for or against the idea of starting a similar movement in South Bend. Kelly said he prefers to keep his relation‑ ship with his team closer to a teacher‑student dynamic than a employer‑ employee situation, but he would be open to discussing things if his players felt differently. "We would respect anything that our players would want to do relative to their creativity, their ability to want to talk about things of that nature," he said. "I think that's one of the great things about being in the university setting. You're never going to squash or hold students back from that kind of dialogue." Kelly declined to say whether he thought the NLRB ruling was good or bad for the future of college football. He said he worries about the details, for instance would player scholarships be taxed if they are employees, rather than looking at the big picture.