Josh Heupel is finding success as the Tennessee Vols' head coach for a couple of different reasons.

One reason is his incredibly efficient offensive scheme that moves at a rapid-fire pace and puts extreme pressure on opposing defenses.

Heupel's offense gets most of the credit for the Vols' quick turnaround last season. But there's a reason the offense operated at a high-level last season after being dreadful in 2020 under previous Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt.

Players quickly bought into Heupel's offense because of the culture that was immediately created when he was hired.

Heupel has created an atmosphere where there's a lot of trust and mutual respect. The former UCF head coach doesn't slam his players publicly. Instead, he tries to focus on the positives while always pushing home the point that his team needs to continue to work to improve.

We saw a great example of this over the weekend when Heupel was asked about a "disappointing" scrimmage earlier this spring.

"I don’t think there was anything disappointing in the first scrimmage," said Heupel on Saturday. "There are a lot of things that you want to improve on. Our guys have been great in that they’ve been consistent in the way they’ve approached the building. They’ve been great in the meeting rooms. Not that there aren’t things that we’re not trying to push them through. But it’s a group that wants to be the best."

"That’s the endeavor or the journey that we’re on right now," added Heupel. "It’s the leadership we’re getting in the locker room. You saw a ton of energy in the way those guys played today. You saw it a bunch when the turnovers were created. I love the way they’re continuing to grow."

Heupel's comments are a sharp contrast from what we heard during the Pruitt era.

Here's how Pruitt sounded after a pre-season scrimmage in 2020.

"We went back to Neyland last night and had somewhat of a scrimmage. Got to get in probably somewhere around 40 to 44 plays in situational football. But it was good to do. Obviously, it was pretty sloppy, to be honest. Lots of penalties, especially on the offensive side, false starts, which just goes back to team takeoff. Not having some guys in there, being consistent with cadence. You know, offensively we put the ball on the ground a few times. Defensively, again, the things that you think would show up, we’ve not had a chance to go live in a very long time, is missed tackles. So we have a whole lot of things that we really need to improve on over the next two weeks, and we’ve got to work hard to do that.

Pruitt loved focusing on the negative when speaking with reporters. He'd praise guys from time to time, but the vibe from Pruitt usually wasn't very positive.

There's a time and place for negativity. There are times when poor play has to be addressed. But slamming the team publicly for a rough scrimmage accomplishes nothing.

Heupel's diplomatic approach — praising his players while acknowledging improvement is needed — is one of the main reasons players bought in last year so quickly.

Being a head coach is difficult. There's way more than goes into it than just X's and O's.

Heupel, however, is well-equipped to handle it.

Pruitt, on the other hand, could never quite figure it out.

The Vols' path to Heupel was filled with speed bumps, but Tennessee football is in a better place today because of that wild journey.

Featured image via Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK