SID's JOTTINGS
• Among the solutions being considered to find a home for a new Gophers track stadium is to make the Les Bolstad Golf Course a nine-hole course and use the other nine for a track.
• Carson Walch, who worked as an offensive quality control coach with the Chicago Bears under Marc Trestman, is working with the Gophers football team in an unpaid position, as the former Winona State standout is still receiving a salary from the Bears.
• Gophers football coach Jerry Kill's daughter Tasha is getting married to Jason Hynes in Herrin, Ill., on Saturday.
• Chaska offensive lineman Matt Kegel has to be one of the most sought-after recruits the Gophers football team has landed recently. Kegel already had offers from Iowa State, Oklahoma State and Pittsburgh and had taken visits with Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. The Gophers also now have more in-state commitments for the 2016 class than the 2013, '14 and '15 classes combined.
• The Gophers men's basketball team got a big break in its conference schedule. The Gophers will play Maryland, Michigan State, Purdue and Wisconsin at home but not on the road this season. The Terrapins figure to be Big Ten favorites and the Badgers and Spartans made this year's Final Four. The Gophers face Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio State and Penn State on the road but not at home. And they will face Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Northwestern and Rutgers at home and on the road.
• The Minnesota/St. Paul Business Journal reported this past week that in December, the University of Minnesota added a scholarship fee to season-ticket holders for Gophers football. Athletic director Norwood Teague said he agonized over the decision but that fans have been understanding and renewal rates are close to where they were last year.
