There's a lot of optimism surrounding the Tennessee Vols as we await the start of the 2022 season.

And for good reason.

Tennessee is coming off a season that saw their offense improve from No. 109 in the nation to No. 7 in the nation.

The reason for the drastic improvement was Josh Heupel's up-tempo offense.

The crux of Heupel's offense is catching defenses off guard. Tennessee moves so fast that opposing defenses aren't always able to get aligned properly. This confusion can lead to huge plays for the offense.

Tennessee ultimately lost this game, but this might have been one of the most hype sequences of the year. The Vols were very much in this against Alabama until the fourth quarter when a lack of depth did Tennessee in. pic.twitter.com/BT6e0Hip1K

— zach ragan (@zachTNT) February 14, 2022

One concern that Tennessee fans have had this offseason is that rival SEC teams will be better prepared for the Vols' offense in 2022 and it won't be as effective.

That might be a valid concern if Tennessee didn't change anything about their offense this offseason, but that's not the case.

Vols offensive coordinator Alex Golesh met with reporters on Tuesday and he explained that UT is committed to evolving on offense.

Vols OC Alex Golesh says he spent a lot of time this off-season figuring out how teams were going to defend against Tennessee’s offense this season. This staff is very aware that they can’t roll with the exact same approach as last year. pic.twitter.com/E2TH4BxQlK

— zach ragan (@zachTNT) August 23, 2022

"You have to anticipate answers to people's answers," said Golesh. "I think a lot of times, the first time you play a team — if you're referring specifically to the tempo — just like you saw a year ago, teams settle in, players settle in. I think it's hard to really replicate in practice, so people tend to settle in. You get to the second/third quarter [and] people are used to it. Play callers on the other side of the ball figure out what they can and can't get in with the tempo."

"So, you have to have answers. For us, that's a multitude of different things. I don't necessarily want to share it, but we have answers to replicate tempo. Answers to how they answer it. In a lot of ways, that's what I spent all spring doing is, man we hurt them here, they're going to take that away, what's the next counter punch to that."

Golesh also noted that it's not like the Vols' offense last season was a total shock to opponents. The game film from Heupel and Golesh's time at UCF showed teams what to expect from UT last year.

"There was no secret coming in (about Tennessee's offense last season)," said Golesh. "A year ago, we came from a place from a tempo standpoint, from a spacing standpoint, [that 's] similar. We've grown and evolved in a lot of ways. You saw us a year ago, as the year went we've grown and evolved. In terms of how we get the ball out, formationally we've expanded. We've got to continue to expand formationally."

"We're drastically different today than we were two years ago leaving the previous place," added Golesh. "We're drastically different today than we were leaving the bowl game in Nashville in terms of what we are, what we have."

It certainly sounds like Tennessee is very aware that teams have likely spent some time this offseason dissecting their offense and figuring out how to stop it.

Golesh and the Vols, however, have spent even more time this offseason trying to stay a step or two (or three) ahead.

Tennessee's staff has a lot of experience running this offense and adapting it. After hearing Golesh speak on Tuesday, I don't think Vols fans have anything to worry about when it comes to Tennessee's offense in 2022. It should once again be electric.

Featured image via Jamar Coach/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK