Ralph Russo of The Athletic spent several days in Clemson before and after covering the Tigers' comeback win over North Carolina.

Russo is trying to wrap his mind around the complicated questions surrounding legendary coach Dabo Swinney if this season ends up being more of the same after last year's six-loss disaster.

Can Clemson still be a national contender? Is Swinney's roster management a hindrance to that aspiration?

Will Clemson be a regular contender for the ACC championship, or does the current reality for the Tigers point more toward them being middle of the pack?

Lots of questions that are hard to answer through three games, but Russo believes the next couple months in Tigertown are going to be very interesting.

Before joining The Athletic, Russo spent 20 years as the lead national college football writer for The Associated Press. He also previously worked as the AP's Mississippi-based sports writer and did a stint with The Denver Post.

Ralph is a native New Yorker and a graduate of Fordham University.

For the past two years Ellis Johnson has lived in the Clemson area to be closer to his son Charlie, a tight end on the Tigers' football team.

Johnson has some thoughts about this Clemson team as it sits 3-1 with a major challenge against Miami on Saturday night in Death Valley.

The team's two biggest obstacles right now, in Johnson's mind:

Freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds learning on the job, and an interior defensive line that hasn't supplied the disruption and pressure that is needed to have a consistently high-level defense.

"I think Miami has to help Clemson for them to have a shot," he said. "There's that much difference in the way the two teams are playing right now. I do think Clemson is capable of winning. But they have to do something to help Tait Reynolds. They have to run the football, and then they have to be careful with what they ask him to do. And they have to get some takeaways on defense."

Johnson was an assistant coach at Alabama in the early 1990s when Dabo Swinney played there. He then moved on to Clemson to work for Tommy West from 1994-96.

Johnson was South Carolina's defensive coordinator under Steve Spurrier from 2008 to 2011.