By Will Vandervort.

SUNSET, S.C. — Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables does not like the way his team is being viewed so far this off-season. And it sounds a little personal.

Despite back-to-back 11 win seasons and an Orange Bowl victory over Ohio State, the Tigers are in his mind not getting talked about outside the state of South Carolina, which he feels they deserve to be.

Venables, who spoke to the media on Tuesday at Dabo Swinney’s Annual Media Golf Outing at The Reserve in Sunset, S.C., has somewhat of a case.

There are a few preseason polls that do not have the Tigers ranked and a few others have them in the top 25, but not in the top 20. Of course there are some polls that have the Tigers ranked 16 and one so-called expert has Clemson winning the national championship.

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So I guess it is all perspective, right? Venables thinks so.

“Apparently, people on the outside don’t think a whole lot of us,” he said. “A lot of people don’t think we are a top 25 team. That’s fine, but to me that is an indictment that they think because we lost two guys, that’s our whole team.”

Those two guys are Tajh Boyd and Sammy Watkins, who are both getting ready for training camps in the NFL.

“They are questioning everyone else and don’t think much of them, whether it is within our conference or talking about our secondary,” Venables said. “I know with a lot of people’s conversation (we) are way on down the totem pole and we are as a program, apparently.”

Venables says the Tigers have a lot to prove and they have to earn a lot of respect.

“If you are a good solid program, then you are in the top 15-top 20 talk and it does not matter,” he said. “I think a lot of people don’t have us there and that is fine. You have to go out and earn it. Whether you are there and you are in that group or you’re not, you still have to go earn it.”

The good news for Venables is that Clemson will have an opportunity to prove it in Week 1 when the Tigers visit Georgia, who more than likely will be a top 15 team when the preseason polls come out later this summer.

“You have to either validate you are a top 20 team or prove that you belong and I think right now we are having to prove that we belong and that is warranted,” Venables said. “I think we have about six maybe seven guys coming back on defense.

“It’s not like we have 10 of 11 coming back or every starter coming back. There are a lot of guys with a lot to prove. Whether guys that have let the team down and are not going to show up in Athens or guys that are still not playing to their abilities, you can go across the board. This is one of those days you get to be ultra positive and the glass is definitely half full today, but there is a lot to be had and a lot to prove.”