Until a few years ago, the football athletes got tuition, fees, room & board, and books – and the meals and snacks were VERY restricted (players were hungry!). Now they can also get a stipend up to COA in D1 but it isn’t just any amount the school wants to give, it is the COA set by the university for all students, not unlimited amounts just for athletes. Travel is included in that COA. I’ve seen COA amount for instate and OOS students be different because of the travel, but I’ve never seen one include ‘money for taxes.’ Teams cannot (and never could) pay for personal travel (team travel is covered) or anything else, and now if they give the stipend (or a Pell grant), that becomes taxable too. Players can save their stipend to pay taxes, but the school can’t give more money on top of that.
Football and basketball players (and other head count sports) don’t qualify for work study hours because their entire COA is being met and work study would be giving them more than the COA. In the olden days, football players used to work in the summers and many got fluff jobs from booster, making many times minimum wage for doing nothing. That is all regulated now too.
I think many just don’t file taxes at all.