The Minnesota Vikings tight end recently appeared on “The Rich Eisen Show” and talked about the admiration he and his teammates have for their head coach.
During the early part of his NFL career, Minnesota Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph did not experience a ton of winning.
In Rudolph’s first three seasons after he was drafted in 2011, the Vikings went a combined 18-29. While the tight end did help Minnesota make the playoffs in 2012, much of the team’s success that year had to do with running back Adrian Peterson playing out of his mind.
So after the team only won five games in 2013, the Vikings decided to make a coaching change. A few weeks into the 2014 offseason, Minnesota named former Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer as their new head coach.
Since he was hired, all Zimmer has done is lead the Vikings to two NFC North titles, two playoff appearances, and transformed the team’s defense into one of the league’s absolute best.
Minnesota Vikings
During an appearance on The Rich Eisen Show on Thursday, Rudolph was asked about what it’s like to have Zimmer as Minnesota’s head coach.
"“People will say all of the time that, ‘I would run through a wall for this person,’ and you kind of take it with a grain of salt. But when I say that about coach Zimmer, it’s true because you would do it as if there were something on the other side that you had to have.You wouldn’t just run through the wall because he said so. You truly believe that he has your best interest in mind.”"
These comments from the Vikings tight end should be a surprise to no one. Just about every player who has ever had Zimmer as a coach has said something similar.
Minnesota’s head coach is known for his honesty, which can sometimes be a bit brutal. But the majority of Zimmer’s players have always appreciated this characteristic of his.
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Like Rudolph said on Thursday, Zimmer’s methods are used to help put his players in the best possible position to succeed. And with how his tenure has gone so far with the Vikings, it’s pretty hard to argue against most of Zimmer’s tactics.