Welcome to your new Niners Nation overlord!

Effective March 12th.

Today marks a big day for Niners Nation. Three months ago I announced that I would be leaving the site for a new role with SB Nation. After an extensive search, I am excited to announce the next site manager for Niners Nation. And the decision comes with an unexpected twist!

SB Nation has hired former Chargers Wire managing editor Kyle Posey to take over as site manager, effective Tuesday March 12th. He will be joining SB Nation full-time on Monday, but the company orientation will keep him busy that day. He’ll officially be in the saddle on the site on Tuesday. Pat Holloway and the rest of the writing staff will remain in place. Kyle will bring on new folks as he sees fit, but while he’s getting comfortable, the existing staff will be a big help as free agency gets going.

The first question most of you probably has is why someone from another team site, outside the fanbase. It’s a reasonable question given how this site has operated for the 12 years since it first launched. We’ve approached the 49ers from almost an entirely fan-based perspective. I like to think I bring some measure of objectivity at times, but clearly this site has focused on the team from a fan’s perspective — an educated fan perspective when possible, but a fan nonetheless.

The site will still have plenty of fan personality, but Kyle provides an opportunity to shake things up. We’ve evolved over the years, but I like the idea of striking out in a new direction with such a significant change. The site will still be your go-to place for 49ers information, analysis, and general silliness, but this allows the site to build itself even further in a different direction. Kyle brings new ideas on how to approach covering the team, and I am excited to see where he can take this site moving forward.

I am not entirely abandoning the site with Kyle’s arrival! I’m taking as much of a step back as I can so as to not overshadow Kyle, but I will be around to help out as needed while he gets up to speed. I’ll help primarily on the back-end of things, but if we see a bunch of stories break at once during free agency and he needs a hand, I’ll be here to help. And of course, I’m not disappearing entirely from the comments.

I’m sure we’ll see a whole range of reactions to this news, so while Kyle is not taking over the site until Monday, he will be around to chat with folks in the comments and start the process of getting to know everybody. I’m also going to be around to answer questions, so feel free to fire away. In the meantime, I’ll turn it over to Kyle.

I want to piggyback on what Fooch said about the direction of the site and me in general. You will notice plenty of emotion related to the 49ers from my end. You and I are in this together. I’ve been a fan of Kid Shanahan since I can remember:

I’d tell you search his name and my @, but I’ll save you some time and just say he’s the guy for the job.

That’s just to say that if I’m going to invest as much or more time than the casual fan, there’s going to be emotion involved. I’m human. I promise. So when we are watching games together and Jimmy G misses a TD pass to Odell Beckham Jr. whoever the team signs this offseason, I’m going to let you know. I’m also going to let you know every single time DeForest Buckner forklifts someone out of his way for a sack. He was one of my favorite players in that draft. I was obnoxiously high on him. My style of delivery is just give it to you straight. To me, that’s one of the best things about football. On Sunday night it’s the quarterback and coaches fault. By Tuesday we all realize how wrong we were. That initial, raw reaction is the best. There will be plenty of that.

My style of giving it to you straight didn’t just come out of nowhere. I’ve been in accounting the last handful of years. There’s no gray area in that field. Ironically enough, that’s where my obnoxiously-nonchalant-sarcastic personality comes from. So when we are talking about football, a game, it’s impossible for me to take this too serious. We are discussing whether Jimmie Ward is worth a certain amount millions and if he can be relied on for more than one year. Believe it or not, there are bigger fish to fry in this world.

That’s not to say I don’t enjoy these discussions. I love it. Different points of views will always make you sharper if you’re receptive to the idea of change. That’s no different than what I’m doing here. I will do everything I can from an analysis point of view to objectively let you know how someone is playing. Richard Sherman has long been one of my favorite players to watch. If he’s not playing well, I’m not going to pretend like he is. That would be no different if I was discussing Derwin James of the Chargers, or Russell Westbrook from the Thunder. You are going to see what I see.

Outside of accounting, I’ve gotten the chance to coach high school football the last six years as well. Prior to that I played receiver in college. I was small, slow, and knew nothing, so we don’t have to talk about that. Learned more than I could ever imagine coaching. Whenever there is a film study related piece from me, it might come off bigger picture, or in that coaching tone. For example, whether it’s about the game itself or a specific player. Again, it’s football. We should be having fun. I have compared Chargers players to types of tequila. I have compared draft players to everything from cities to TV characters. I’m all over the map. We will have some fun. Oh, and I promise you every time the Seahawks screw up, and they will, we will talk about it ad nauseam.

Football is more relationships than anything. I plan on getting out to training camp and getting a better feel for the players, coaches, media, and everyone else with the team. For the Chargers, I was lucky enough to have a contact in the front office that dished me “insider info.” So I was able to get scoops like who the team was drafting the last couple years.

I was born in San Diego. Lived in Iowa for a good chunk of my life. Went to college both there and in Houston. Currently live in Phoenix. Yes, George Kittle has always been this good. I have a daughter. She is six. She is also smarter than me. One random 49er fact about me is that my dad went to the same high school as Roger Craig and was best friends with his older brother Curtis. That’s enough rambling from me for now. You’ll hear plenty from me moving forward. Both here and on twitter. If you have any questions, feel free to fire away!