College football is obviously a very different world now than it was two decades ago, and former Tennessee Vols offensive lineman Ramon Foster gave a great behind-the-scenes example of that Monday on 104.5 The Zone’s Ramon and Will.

Foster, who played 11 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers after his time at Tennessee, was recently recognized as part of the Volunteer 40 under 40. While in Knoxville for the award, Foster, a member of the Vol Network gameday crew, checked out some of the upgrades at Tennessee’s practice facilities.

One of the interesting things that Foster noticed was a “human car wash” that players can go through as they come off the practice field.

“They’ve got a human car wash,” said Foster. “You come off the practice field, you take your shoulder pads off, you put them up on the blowers to dry them. You take your cleats off, you put them up on the foot dryers as well. You leave them right there. Helmet in hand, you can walk through the showers and get sprayed off. You come out of the showers, there’s this 20-yard tank that’s long and linear — about 20 yards long — you go take a dip in there to just cool yourself off from practice.

“You come out of that, you think you’re just going to walk around soaking wet? Wrong. I see why they don’t leave college. They get out of the cool off tank, the human car wash, and then they get up and they go inside of this — I guess it’s like this big rectangle. It’s got infrared lights and blowers to dry you off….It blew my mind. I said to myself, “College is such a different world.’ I thought we had it good. I see why these boys ain’t leaving.”

The perks for college athletes are undoubtedly much different now than they were in the 90s and 2000s.

No more Gatorade in Tennessee’s weight room

Another change for Tennessee that Foster pointed out is the absence of Gatorade in the weight room (thanks to new strength coach Derek Owings).

“No more Gatorades in the weight room,” said Foster. “Too much sugar.”

“You can get Propel. They’ve got a juice in there with all of the aminos and stuff. But no sugar.”

VolQuest’s Brent Hubbs alluded to the changes with sugar in the facilities last week during his appearance on Ramon and Will.

“There is discussion that he’s (Owings) had with the chefs down in the cafeteria about what the meals are going to look like and how they’re going to prepare the food,” said Hubbs. “There is discussion with the nutritionist about taking some sugar things out of the cafeteria and out of the complex and different things like that. So it’s a very holistic approach.”

Tennessee is certainly taking the right steps to be a more physically fit team entering the 2026 season.

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