AP

At a time when coaches like Rex Ryan have shown that it’s OK to talk publicly about goals and aspirations, another head coach who can wear monogrammed shirts with “RR” on the sleeves (although slightly smaller) has taken a page from Rex’s playbook.

Panthers coach Ron Rivera recently said that he thinks his new team can do what each of the other three teams in their division did last year — win 10 games.

“I’m optimistic about who we are and who we can become,” Rivera said, per Steve Reed of CarolinaGrowl.com. “Would I like to win them all? Absolutely. Do I think we can win 10? Yes. I think we can win 10.”

Rivera then apparently tried to backtrack a bit. “I think we can win 10, 11, nine, eight, I’m not sure,” Rivera said. “To put a number out would be unfair to our guys. But I will say the one thing I want more than anything else is to play hard because I think that gives you chance to win.”

Rivera shouldn’t have backtracked. He’s got a young team that could use a little confidence.

And as we’ve learned from Rex Ryan, there’s nothing wrong with a little confidence.