Not to the IRS. It’s a gift. Gift taxes are the responsibility of the giver, so the cafe worker doesn’t need to worry. The annual exclusion is 13k per person or so, if the coach is married, there is no tax issue. Then there’s the lifetime gift exclusion, so you really don’t have gift tax issues until the lifetime exclusion is used up, but he may need to file a gift tax return.
It’s all tied in with the death tax too. It’s another reason to get rid of the income and death tax altogether.
Gift taxes are the responsibility of the giver.
The state may want to collect sales tax on the actual value.
The IRS (and state) may treat the transfer in excess of payment as imputed income, since they have effectively an employer-employee relationship. The recipient has a good argument that this has nothing to do with compensation for work, or an employment bonus.
Gift and estate taxes are relevant, until coach dies.