Health, new position coach have Vikings' Rudolph excited for 2016

Last season, Kyle Rudolph finally returned to the sort of star player the Vikings saw in his first two seasons in the NFL, posting a career high in receiving yards (493) while catching 49 passes and five touchdowns.

Rudolph burst onto the scene after being selected as a second-round pick out of Notre Dame in 2011, being named to the Pro Football Focus all-rookie team after catching 26 passes for 249 yards and three scores. He was also MVP of the Pro Bowl. His second season was even better as he posted 53 receptions for 493 yards and nine touchdowns.

But the following two seasons saw Rudolph play in only 17 games combined as he was hit by injuries. Now, he is not only healthy, but he has a chance to have an even more productive season as the Vikings named former Browns and Eagles head coach Pat Shurmur their new tight ends coach.

"It's always great to add another offensive mind like coach Shurmur," Rudolph said. "He has offensive coordinator experience as well as head coaching experience. He has been doing it for a long time and he adds a lot of credibility and a different perspective on offense to our staff. I'm excited to work with him. He has had a lot of success with tight ends throughout his career."

One of the benefits for the Vikings right now is that the NFL allows them to meet with coaches while doing their weight training sessions.

"I talked to him a few times before we got back, and then we have been back to work with our new CBA, we're allowed to have a certain amount of meeting time per day, and we spend a lot of time together meeting and going over stuff," Rudolph said. "He's a great coach. He brings a lot of insight and knowledge to our position and I think he'll make everybody in our room a lot better."

The Vikings have a good core of tight ends with Rudolph, Rhett Ellison and MyCole Pruitt, although Ellison is recovering from a torn patellar tendon suffered in the regular-season finale.

"I sure hope so," he said. "You know I'm a big fan of getting the ball in my hands and it's always fun when they're throwing the ball your way. But whatever is called upon to help us win games that's what we're going to do, as we've shown over the last few years.

"Anything we can do to help us win games, we're going to do it, and we're going to try to put our offense in situations to be successful."

Rudolph said he understands a big part of the Vikings' identity is their running game and multi-tight end sets.

"Any time you can put that big personnel out there, it's obviously a more run-heavy formation, … and it gives us opportunities to kind of mix things up," he said. "We feel like we have three guys in our room this past year that can go out and play and help us win games. As a tight end, the more we get on the field, the better."

After not missing a game last season, Rudolph says that has given him a positive outlook. "I feel good, it has been a good offseason so far and we're excited to be back at Winter Park working with our new strength coach, Brent [Salazar], getting ready for this upcoming season," he said.

"In my career with the Vikings I've missed almost a full season due to a broken foot and bilateral hip surgery," he said. "I had both hips operated on two years ago and I broke my foot in '13. But I feel good and I'm healthy and I'm ready for an exciting season."

Last year was Rudolph's second trip to the playoffs, but he said this season the team has to have even more focus.

"We can't get complacent," he said. "We can't be satisfied being division champs and hosting a home playoff game. We need to realize that what happened last year was great and we need to build on it, but we don't start from where we ended last year."

And what does Rudolph believe quarterback Teddy Bridgewater has to do to lead the team further? "Teddy just has to keep doing what he has been doing," Rudolph said. "He had a great second year last year and he's a quarterback that doesn't get as many opportunities as other quarterbacks in this league because of the style we play and the way we run the ball so much. But Teddy does a great job in taking advantage of opportunities when he gets them, and he's always putting us in position to be successful."

Give the Gophers women's teams credit for the fact that the University of Minnesota is currently fourth in the 2015-16 Directors' Cup standings, trailing Stanford, Ohio State and Michigan. The cup tallies the success of every program in Division I, and the Gophers benefited from great winter performances from women's gymnastics, which finished seventh in the country; women's hockey, which won the national championship; and women's swimming, which finished 16th overall.

JOTTINGS

• Longtime Twins executive Jerry Bell will have a baseball field named after him near his home in North St. Paul to be used for the city's baseball and softball programs. The field will also be renovated in a coordinated project between the Twins Community Fund and the city of North St. Paul.

• When Gophers track standout Luca Wieland successfully defended his Big Ten decathlon title last weekend, he became only the fifth man in Big Ten history to accomplish that feat. The only other Gophers athlete to do it was Travis Brandstatter, who won the decathlon in 2004 and '05. Wieland, a junior from Germany, was the NCAA heptathlon champion during the 2015 indoor season.

• Terry Steinbach, the former Twins catcher and bench coach, will be the bench and hitting coach for the Willmar Stingers of the Northwoods League this season. Steinbach coached high school ball for Wayzata from 2008 to 2012 before joining the Twins coaching staff for 2013 and '14.

• Garrett Suter, the 28-year-old brother of Wild star Ryan Suter, was named coach and general manager of the Madison Capitols of the United States Hockey League. He replaces Troy Ward, who resigned last month after one season. Ryan Suter serves as the Capitols team chairman and was in attendance for the news conference Wednesday morning.

• Guard Randy Foye, who played for the Timberwolves from 2006 to '09, is getting some playing time this postseason off the bench for the Oklahoma City Thunder, his sixth NBA team. He's averaging 3.1 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 12.4 minutes per game.