'No doubt' about it, Clemson is elite.

One of the unique aspects of being a radio host is that I get to interact with Clemson fans daily. Several seasons ago, we had a question, "Is Clemson an elite team?" 

I think at the time, we all could see something was brewing. The question most people had was: "Can Dabo Swinney push Clemson over the top?"

Two years ago, Clemson made an undefeated run to the national championship game. The Tigers would come up short falling 45-40 to the mighty Crimson Tide. After that loss, people still questioned the Tigers staying power. Clemson stood toe-to-toe with Alabama on the biggest stage, but recognize Clemson as elite? Not yet.

Last season, Clemson had boat loads of pressure on them because of the amount of talent they were returning. All-world quarterback Deshaun Watson and a host of other skill position players were expected to keep Clemson's offense lethal. Questions about the defense existed, given the talent lost from the 2015 secondary.

The other issue, the onus of returning to the national championship. Would scaling that mountain again, be a burden that Clemson couldn't bear? Early-season tribulation would spotlight the pressure on the Tigers, but Clemson overcame adversity time and time again in close victories.

On October 15th, it looked like Clemson's "Houdini act" was coming to a close against NC State. As Kyle Bambard lined up for a rather routine filed goal to knock off the Tigers in regulation.

Believe me, Clemson fans were well on their way to justifying how this loss wouldn't derail their dreams of a second consecutive trip to the College Football Playoff. Ultimately Clemson escaped disaster with an overtime victory over NC State. The sleepwalking had to be over, right?

Four weeks later, Pitt would dash the Tigers' dreams of a second consecutive undefeated regular season, escaping Death Valley with a last-second field goal in a 43-42 win.

After that game, Dabo Swinney said, “It is either a stumbling block or a stepping stone, and I know who this team is. I don’t need anybody to tell me who they are. I know the heart of this team. I know exactly who they are, and I know how they will respond."

Swinney was right, the Tigers picked themselves up off the mat and finished the season strong. A dismembering of Ohio State 31-0 in the Fiesta Bowl, being the most complete game perhaps in Swinney's tenure.

Clemson would then nudge past Alabama, on Hunter Renfrow's last second touchdown reception, and secure the 2016 National Championship. 

Even in victory, after multiple years of success, there were still people who would question if Dabo Swinney's program had "sustainability". The kind of sustainability Ohio State and Alabama are credited with having year in and year out.

Prior to this season, question marks surrounded the defending champions. Most notably, how the Tigers would replace more than 77 percent of the offensive production that was lost? How do you lose Deshaun Watson, Mike Williams, Jordan Leggett, Wayne Gallman, and Artavis Scott and sustain success? How can a group who finished 28-2 with two trips to the national title game be replaced?

We are talking multiple All-Americans on offense, lost to the NFL. Weapons that shouldn't be easily replaced. Coach Swinney continued to focus on what was returning saying, "Everybody keeps wanting to talk about last year's team and what we don't have, but what I'm excited about is what we do have.

Even this past weekend, after moving to 3-0 and thrashing last season's Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson and the Louisville Cardinals, Swinney continued to harp on the hunger of this group, "We're such a new team, with so many new guys. I was just anxious to see how they respond. We're a team that's hungry. They support and pull for each other."

Swinney's correct, the 2017 Clemson Tigers are loaded with players who have played tremendous amounts of snaps on the biggest stage, yet it appears that these guys still feel like they have something to prove.

At the top of that list is an undervalued quarterback named Kelly Bryant.

In fairness to Kelly, the majority of stories written during the summer weren't about the success that he would have. Most focused on how quickly Zerrick Cooper or Hunter Johnson would take over this offense. That's become a distant memory as Bryant has impressed.

This past weekend, Coach Swinney challenged the Tigers to, "Leave no doubt."

After hammering Louisville on both sides of the ball, there's no doubt that Kelly Bryant is more than up to the task this season. After the game Bryant said, "I just did my job. I did everything the coaches asked me of me, just tried to lead our guys out there. Nothing more, nothing less".  

There's also no doubt that the 2017 team, has the ability to make another run at the College Football Playoff. The Tigers seem to be in a great place physically and mentally right now. 

When you lose the type players that Clemson's lost in recent years, it can mean only one thing.

You are elite.