I was in Woodruff two different years around 1990. Both of those years, basketball players were in the suite next to mine. Their schedule was insane. Out of the dorm by six for workouts or practice. Then classes, then more workouts, then mandatory study hall sessions. They didn't get back to the dorm until 9 or 10 on days with no games. If you count required class time and mandatory study hall, they were engaged in mandatory activities for at least 70 hours per week during the season. Even out of season, they had mandatory workouts, classes, and study hall. Not sure how many hours per week that was, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was at least 40.
Which is related to what people have been missing or ignoring for a long time about college sports. Little leagues are not going to accept responsibility for injury risks. They are amateur groups who organize a fun activity for kids. High schools are not going to accept responsibility for injuries. They are educational entities who organize fun activities and drive comradery among students.
College is different. Since at least the 80s, college football has been run as a business. Get on TV more to: Make more money to pay for better players to be able to make more money to: Build "Taj Mahal" facilities to be able to make more money to: Pay for better coaches to be able to make more money to: Build even better "Taj Mahal" facilities to make more money to: .......... Some coaches make more than $10 million per year now. Some assistant coaches make several million per year now. DRad reportedly makes more than $3 million as an AD.
College football is being run as a business, not an amateur collection of schools whose students compete in athletics. The only way to be an amateur collection of schools again would be to drop out of the money race. I doubt any P4 schools would do that. I doubt many if any G5 schools would do that. I also doubt that many FCS or D2 schools would do that. What is happening now isn't because of the athletes. It is a reckoning that has been coming since at least the 80s, and maybe back to the 60s when teams started oversigning players and cutting them. What is happening now is the price of the -win at all costs- attitudes of the last 40-60 years.