By Poulumi Banerjee

Poulumi is the News Director and Executive Website Director for Vandy Radio. She is also the Lead Anchor of her weekly VandyRadio show ‘Poulumi’s Picks’, which integrates current news topics with top 40 music.

One of the biggest news stories of the month around campus has been the announcement that Vanderbilt football coach James Franklin, has decided to leave and become the new coach at Penn State.

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Campus saw a slew of controversial and negative reactions last week to this news. While many praised his revival of the Vanderbilt football team, most of the critiques questioned Franklin’s intentions at Vanderbilt: One an

onymous writer for insidevandy.com wrote: “The biggest problem that I had with Franklin had nothing to do with his knowledge of football — it had to do with his character…When he came to Vanderbilt, he claimed that this was “a destination and not a stepping stone.” He sold his recruits on the idea that he was here for the long run and was committed to Vanderbilt; when in reality he used his position as a springboard to a bigger program.”

A current Peabody student Kristin Webb stated: “The hero Vanderbilt fans deserve is someone who will stay long enough to help us get there. Someone who won’t jump ship as soon as he gets the opportunity. Someone who will truly anchor down in Nashville.”

As of last Friday afternoon, Vanderbilt finalized a deal to bring Stanford Defensive Coordinator, Derek Mason, to Nashville as the new Head Football Coach for the Commodores. Mason has been with the cardinal since 2010 when he was hired as their defensive backs coach. Others who were considered were Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator, Pep Hamilton, and Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris.

Excitement around campus is palpable, as Vanderbilt football fans wait to see the performance of the Commodores after Mason’s defensive expertise. Stay tuned to VandyRadio for the most recent updates on athletics, and other important campus news.