BGN Site News: A Change in Leadership

Hello and good morning, Bleeding Green Nation.

If you've ever visited his site before, you already know who I am. But for those who don't, my name is Brandon Lee Gowton. I've been an active community member of this blog since August of 2010, and I started officially writing for the site's front page in February 2013.

In my debut post entitled "In Chip Kelly We Trust?" I asked if Eagles fans could trust Chip to lead their favorite team to success. In today's post, I ask you to trust in me...

I am very excited to announce I am taking over as the new BGN Manager/Editor-in-chief. I could not be more happy about this opportunity and look forward to spending time daily producing fresh, fun, and worthwhile Eagles content for you to consume.

I'd like to take the time to thank a number of people for making this opportunity possible. First and foremost, none of BGN would be possible without JasonB. He founded the site and shaped it into what it is today - easily one of the best Eagles blogs around. Also, thanks to SB Nation and SBN NFL Editor Joel Thorman.

Second, Jimmy Kempski has been a quintessential member of the BGN staff for a long time and took over for JasonB the last two months when he moved on. Jimmy's no longer here with us at BGN. He's now a full time Eagles writer for Philly.com (MR BIG TIME!). Jimmy will post a comment in this thread regarding his official farewell.

Thirdly, Dan Klausner (Danta Klaus) has been a great contributor at BGN and has left the site as well. He is now writing for the mothership at PhiladelphiaEagles.com (Sellout! Just kidding, Dan is great). Here is Dan's farewell message:

Time for a (relatively) brief update. After two weeks of Training Camp, the Eagles team website offered to keep me on through the season and I accepted because, well, of course. Therefore, I won't be returning to Bleeding Green Nation. I'd like to thank Jason B from the bottom of my heart for taking a chance on me over two years ago when I had been blogging for only six months, and for giving me an opportunity that has helped shape my career aspirations and opened up numerous doors along the way. I'd like to thank Jimmy Kempski, and congratulate him on EARNING the Philly.com gig full time, for taking me under his wing during the 2012 opener against Cleveland and remaining a friend ever since. Above all, I'd like to thank the readers, as nothing else would've been possible without your support. It's been a wonderful experience to see BGN grow and prosper, and I'm so proud to have helped in that regard both as a contributor and recruiter.

I'm excited that SB Nation has decided to appoint Brandon Gowton as the new EIC. He's talented, thoughtful and ambitious and proved himself with an MVP showing at Training Camp. The dude is 100% legit, and everyone who got a chance to observe him recognizes it. Not only is Brandon more than ready to take the job, but to thrive in the role and shine with expanded responsibilities. With Gowton at the top and Kaye, Keane, Cohen, Saltveit and Harkenreader all contributing, BGN ranks up there in quality with any Eagles site around. BGN's future, just like that of the Eagles, is bright. I'll never forget where I came from, will be a regular reader/commenter and always keep linking BGN articles in the daily headlines piece on PE.com.

PS - I was wrong about how the Vick/Foles competition would shake out. Being around Vick throughout Training Camp and listening to him speak/seeing him act, I was impressed by and appreciated his self-reflection, humility, genuineness and leadership. I really believe that being forced to go back to square one and earn the starting job, a challenge that had never before been presented, made him reassess where he was in his career and understand what was necessary in order to take that next step. No player embraced Chip Kelly's nutrition plan and training regimen more than Vick, and he won the quarterback competition fair and square (though I also believe the competition was closer than generally acknowledged and Foles showed he can adeptly run Kelly's offense). I hope Vick continues to prove me wrong throughout the season, en route to plenty of wins, and that we are lucky enough to see him return to his 2010 form.

Fourthly, the other staff members here at BGN. I'm excited to work with these talented individuals and I know they will continue to provide great content for the site. Thank you: Mike Kaye, Brent Cohen, James Keane, Mark Saltveit, and Matt Harkenreader. Thanks to all of the other various BGN alumni as well. We will be providing more background on these writers and myself in a "Meet the Writers" post in the upcoming days.

Last but not least, BGN wouldn't be as great as it is without the awesome, awesome, awesome community here. I sincerely mean that. Thank you for all of your support. For anyone who reads our site, comments, follows us on Twitter, likes us on Facebook, links to us, listens to our podcast, writes a FanShot/FanPost, etc... thank you!

I am delighted to take over the reigns and maintain the great success BGN has achieved. My goal is to give my best effort to continue making this your favorite Eagles destination.

It's a new era not only for the Eagles, but for BGN as well. Let's make it a great one!

Remember, if you ever need to reach me, you can follow me on Twitter: @BrandonGowton or send me an e-mail at PE-BGN(at)mail(dot)com.