It's hard not to get excited with what Ron Rivera was saying in his first press conference as the head coach of the Carolina Panthers. We got a sense of what kind of coach Ron Rivera will be, he spoke of his family's military background and an emphasis on structure and discipline.

He went on to say his football philosophy is to be aggressive on both sides of the ball, as well as running a balanced offense. He said not just balanced from a run/pass perspective, but rather knowing when to run the ball, knowing when to pass the ball and attacking your opponent's weaknesses.

Here are the key points: 

- The Panthers will remain a 4-3 defense, as we have the personnel for it.

- Rivera likes the TEs, but was also quick to say essentially that they want one guy to do it all and specifically mentioned the draft and free agency to fix this.

- On the QB position: He said as it stands it's assumed that Jimmy Clausen is the starting QB, but he did say 'until you bring someone in to compete'. It appears Clausen will get his chance to impress the staff, but it is not assumed he'll get the job uncontested. 

- Rivera said he would 'keep his options open' open concerning the draft.

My op-ed after the jump...

This was one of those 'it's not what he said, but how he said it' press conferences. Ron Rivera looked and sounded like a man in command, in control and ready to get to work. He had a surprising amount of knowledge regarding our personnel sight unseen and did a great job getting his point across of who he is as a man, and who he will be as a coach.

Inspirational guy to say the least. I don't think Mondays, or Sundays will be boring while he's in town.