Virginia's Mike Hollins continues on path toward return, is 'ready' for new season

Virginia running back Mike Hollins details his spring football return ahead of the Cavaliers' August training camp.
He’s continuing on his miraculous quest toward taking the field when Virginia opens its new campaign on Sept. 2 against Tennessee in Nashville.
Cavaliers running back Mike Hollins, a survivor of this past November’s shooting on Grounds that left him wounded and killed three of his teammates, said he doesn’t know exactly yet how he’ll feel when he runs out of the tunnel against the Volunteers.
“I can only imagine the emotions that’ll be flowing through my body,” Hollins said Friday morning. “I literally have no words because the spring game, it hit me like a sack of rocks and I didn’t expect it, so I can only imagine. I’m ready, though. I’m ready for it.”
'It’s literally a miracle I’m here today': Mike Hollins describes his journey back to the football field
Hollins was fully cleared for contact in practice about midway through the spring and he has been on a mission to play ever since suffering and recovering from gunshot wounds to his abdomen in November as well as the emergency surgery and the strenuous rehabilitation that followed.
He had returned to the team for workouts in the early winter months and became an immediate factor in the competition for the starting job at his position. When practices began in March and April, he was limited, but thrived.
Just like he did once his status was elevated to full-go. Hollins capped his spring with a rushing touchdown in the Cavaliers’ annual Blue-White game. It came on a 1-yard plunge past the goal line, which led to Hollins celebrating with the rest of the Hoos.
Hollins, Cavaliers shine in Virginia's spirited Blue-White Game
“I never really questioned my physical ability coming back,” Hollins said. “I never questioned if I would be able to play football again. It was more that feeling again that reaching the end zone gave me during such a sad time and just knowing how powerful the game could be.”
Hollins said he decided on attempting to play so soon after the tragedy because, “enough was already taken from me. I wasn’t going to let football be taken from me.”
He said scoring the touchdown was a special moment and that his effort throughout the spring has propelled him forward, providing confidence heading into next week’s start of training camp.
“It gave me motivation going into the summer and into fall camp,” Hollins said, “just knowing that I was just getting back [in the spring] and not even close to where I was before the incident size wise, conditioning and the overall confidence with the ball.
“I wasn’t there yet,” he continued, “so it gave me motivation for this summer and fall camp because I don’t have a lot at all to prove to anyone. It’s more to myself and it’s knowing I was able to move forward and still live out my dream in spite of everything thrown my way.”
Hollins said his weight plummeted from the 208 pounds he measured in at last season to about 180 pounds following the shooting. A productive summer in the weight room with strength coach Adam Smotherman, though, Hollins noted, has allowed him to push his weight back up to around 205 pounds.
“He is a superhero,” fellow running back and Hollins’ roommate Perris Jones said. “That’s the best way that I can describe it. Experiencing what he experienced and carrying himself with as much grace and perseverance as he does is inspirational to see day in and day out. His spirit is truly unbroken, and he embodies that every day. The passion he has for his teammates and for the coaches and for the program, I mean, it’s second to none.
“The guy is amazing.”
Said UVa coach Tony Elliott: “What we’ve seen in Mike is a guy that amidst all of the things that have happened to his life, he’s just gotten up every single day and even through the tears and through the struggles, he’s shown up and he’s been there about his teammates and for his teammates.”
Hollins
After scoring a touchdown, Virginia running back Mike Hollins places the ball on D’Sean Perry’s name during the annual Spring Game at Scott Stadium. Hollins suffered a gunshot wound during a shooting that took the lives of Perry and two other teammates in November.
Hollins said he’ll probably never get back to being the person he was prior to the horrific November incident, but has spent his time since then learning about and embracing how resilient he can be.
“I’m definitely excited for fall camp,” Hollins said. “It’s going to emotional one and emotional season, but I see this team moving forward and I see the team and coaches bonding and I just am excited for what this season holds. And not just for this team, but for this city and University because we need football right now.”