New Tennessee Vols tight ends coach Alec Abeln met with the media on Wednesday for the first time since his recent promotion.

Abeln, who was an offensive analyst the past two seasons at Tennessee, replaces Alex Golesh as the Vols' tight ends coach (quarterbacks coach Joey Halzle is UT's new offensive coordinator).

On Wednesday, Halzle mentioned that Abeln had a big hand in Tennessee's run game in 2022.

"He's great in the run game, he's great in protections from being on that side of the ball as a player, as well," said Halzle. "So, a lot of our run-game this year had his handprints all over it."

A reporter asked Abeln about Halzle's comment later on Wednesday.

And Abeln's response put one of Tennessee's biggest strengths under Josh Heupel on full display.

This is a big reason why Tennessee has had so much success so quickly. No ego, everyone in the room has a voice, no one is afraid to throw out fresh ideas. pic.twitter.com/9pigwxvJLK

— zach ragan (@zachTNT) February 8, 2023

"I think how I got developed starts really with Coach Heup," said Abeln. "Just whole program belief for coach is that you are in here for a reason. If you've got an idea, if you've got a way we can do things better, I don't care if you're a GA, don't care if you're a student assistant. I want your input. As a group, there is no ego. We want to try and find the best solution to do everything."

"I think growing up in a program and a coaching staff like that is what has allowed me to have the kind of success that I have had," added Abeln.

It's that type of collaboration that makes Tennessee's offense so potent.

Sure, this is Heupel's offense, but he's not a dictator. He's always looking to evolve. And he wants to hear ideas from everyone in the room. The fact that analysts and graduate assistants feel like they have the freedom to voice their ideas means that no great ideas/strategies get left behind.

Now, I'm sure there are ideas that are dismissed as quickly as they're mentioned. That's fine. In fact, that's healthy. But the main takeaway is that Heupel wants everyone on his staff from analysts to coordinators to have a voice. And the Vols are better because of that philosophy.

By the way, Abeln also noted on Wednesday that he knew Heupel was special from the moment he met him at Missouri in 2016 (when Abeln was a player and Heupel was the Tigers' offensive coordinator).

"I have told recruits this, and I have told guys on the radio this as well — I vividly remember being 20 years old, him walking into that team room for the first time and thinking, this dude is different," said Abeln. "This dude is a winner. I think at that point, we were as bad as it gets offensively, like 125 out of 128. The very first question he asked me was how much do I weigh, and it was not enough. There was a belief and an expectation of just because this is how things have been, does not mean that that is how things are going to be. We have what it takes to be successful, but it will take everything you have."

"To me, right away as I knew as a young coach, had an opportunity to stay at my alma mater for one year as a GA. Ultimately, it was really easy for me to go down to Central Florida, just because [I] knew that that is who I wanted to be with and who I wanted to grow from."

The results speak for themselves at this point — Heupel's system works. And the coaches around him believe in it.

Heupel is the rare coach that has the "it factor" and that "it factor" is starting to show itself in a big way on Rocky Top.

Featured image via Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports