The Tennessee Vols showed vast improvement on the offensive side of the ball in Josh Heupel's first season leading the program, going from averaging 21.5 points per game in 2020 to averaging 39.3 points per game in 2021.

Despite having the No. 7 scoring offense in the nation, the Vols finished the season with just seven wins. The seven wins were impressive considering the mess Heupel inherited from previous head coach Jeremy Pruitt. But I think most folks would expect a team averaging nearly 40 points a game to win more than seven games.

The biggest reason Tennessee didn't finish with 9 or 10 wins in 2021 (and they weren't far away from that) was a severe lack of depth.

A mass exodus of players after the 2020 season left the Volunteers with a thin roster.

The quickest way to remedy a thin roster in 2022 is via the NCAA transfer portal.

Unfortunately for the Vols, trips to the portal this offseason haven't been very fruitful.

247Sports recently ranked the biggest "winners" of the transfer portal this offseason and they have Tennessee at No. 13 — dead last (they have Georgia as incomplete due to their national championship run).

The Vols have had 14 departures from the program with an average rating of 85.73. They've made four additions which have an average rating of 83. That's a net rating loss of -2.73.

That's obviously not encouraging, considering Tennessee was already struggling with depth.

But I don't think it's cause for concern.

First off, the Vols are dealing with some self-imposed scholarship reductions. Tennessee hasn't said anything publicly about these reductions (which are in response to the violations that occurred under Pruitt), so it's unclear exactly what kind of numbers crunch the Vols are dealing with.

The speculation, however, is that Tennessee will be able to add more players via scholarship after the spring semester (for now it appears that UT is trying to get around the reductions by utilizing preferred walk-on spots).

Another factor in the Vols' lack of activity in the transfer portal this offseason is that Tennessee isn't just blindly adding players for the sake of having more depth.

The Vols are targeting a certain type of player. And if that player isn't available at the time, then Tennessee will wait.

"The combination of pieces has got to be the building of your program," said Heupel last week. "Guys that are going to truly be bought into your culture, that are going to know the culture, that are going to grow inside of it and grow in their ability to play at the highest level."

“For us after spring ball, I think we’ll be able to evaluate our roster and hopefully navigate and find some specific needs and personnel that can help us go compete by the time we get to the fall," added Heupel.

Heupel walked into a tough situation at Tennessee in early 2021. But he has the Vols' rebuild ahead of schedule — no one expected UT to have the No. 7 scoring offense in the nation in Heupel's first season.

Fans need to trust Heupel and his staff. They clearly have a plan. And the plan has worked so far. There's no reason to doubt it now.

Tennessee isn't going to turn into an SEC Championship caliber team overnight. But Heupel is working hard to get it there as quickly as possible.

Featured image via Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports