The NBC newsman is taking over the position from longtime 'Today' anchor Hoda Kotb Craig Melvin admits he’s generally not an anxious person. He doesn’t “really do excited” either. But reality was setting in as he welcomed PEOPLE into his Westport,

Hoda said she would put the letter for Craig in “a secret hiding place” so he could open it on his first day as co-anchor. Savannah knew where the secret hiding spot was, according to Hoda. “So just ask her,” she said.

Wofford College alumni dressed in black and gold and carrying signs were in the plaza outside the Today Show studios in Rockefeller Center Monday to cheer on their fellow graduate and South Carolina native Craig Melvin on his first day as co-anchor of the Today Show.