Virginia Tech star shares tampering story that will have James Franklin on high alert

We all know tampering happens in college football, especially during the transfer portal era. Many teams have shown they'll do what it takes to compete and spend the necessary resources to build the best possible roster.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney decided to speak out against it last week and wasn't afraid to name names. Swinney's comments got a lot of attention, but no one was shocked that tampering happens and, if we're being honest, the vast majority of the P4 teams do it to some extent. But it's also refreshing to hear it from a player's perspective, and Virginia Tech defensive lineman Kemari Copeland has gone on social media over the past few days to shine a light on the tampering that players have to deal with.

"We get to Week 8 and there was this one specific school that kept tampering, hitting me up...coaching and stuff like that," Copeland said. "I'm having a pretty good game, we're playing Louisville and I look in the crowd and I see that the team that's tampering, they're in the crowd watching me."

Copeland added there was no question that the school that had been trying to correspond with him were watching him that day.

"I could be tripping, but there's no way a school from that logo...there's no way a fan would wear that logo to a Virginia Tech game and sit right in the front," he added.

Copeland also shared a text message he received from that team, but said he would not disclose the team that sent the correspondence.

James Franklin will have to navigate some challenges at Virginia Tech

Tampering is an issue. It was an issue for Swinney, and it's going to be an issue for every coach, including Franklin. Will things be as overt as the situation that Copeland is talking about? Probably not. That was a different situation because Brent Pry had been fired as head coach and without any leadership at the top of the program, coaches from other programs smelled blood in the water. 

With Franklin now established at the leader of Virginia Tech football, tampering isn't going to be done at Virginia Tech as open as what Copeland described. Franklin will speak out and put other programs on blast. However, he will have to deal with his top players being contacted by second and third parties. It's just the sign of the times and something every coach has to deal with.