Mike Hollins overcomes tragedy, named 2025 NCAA Inspiration Award recipient

Mike Hollins wants his life to be a reflection of three friends and University of Virginia football teammates whose lives were cut short.

In November of 2022, D'Sean Perry, Devin Chandler and Lavel Davis Jr. were killed in a mass shooting. Hollins was also shot, but he survived.

"I love to serve, and I love to help people," said Hollins, who is now on Virginia's coaching staff. "The three guys we lost, Devin, Lavel and D'Sean, were the ultimate servants. The ultimate people of compassion. And I wake up every day and just want to keep that flame going. That's how I feel the most connected to those guys."

Hollins, named a 2025 NCAA Inspiration Award recipient, will be honored at the NCAA Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. The award is presented to a coach or administrator currently associated with intercollegiate athletics or to a current or former varsity letter winner at an NCAA school. It honors those who used perseverance, dedication and determination to overcome a life-altering situation and become role models, giving hope and inspiration to others.

Hollins' inspiring journey started in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he grew up playing outside, hunting and fishing. When he was about 8 years old, his mother signed him up for his first youth football league, and he has loved the game since.

From his father, Hollins learned strength. By age 8, he had already formed the habit of doing pushups and situps every day, mimicking the workout routines of his father, who was on active military duty.

From his mother, Hollins learned the value of education. A bad grade in the classroom would result in not being able to practice football. Needless to say, Hollins did not miss any football practices.

Both parents, as well as his grandmother and siblings, taught him the value of family. And for Hollins, family didn't end with relatives. Instead, Hollins formed a family through the relationships he made every step of his life, especially on the gridiron. 

"What really drew me to the game of football was just the people. The coaches, especially, have mentored me and guided me," he said. "Those relationships and everything that comes with being on the football team and doing hard things together — the sweat and the tears that come with it — that really drew me to the game."

Going into his sophomore year of high school, Hollins started thinking about his future. He knew football would be his path to greater things. 

"Just thinking back to the conversations I had with my family, especially my sister, my mom, I always looked at football as a vehicle to get me out of Louisiana and get me to rise in life, to get me to different opportunities and open other doors," he said. "The University of Virginia was just a glaring, obvious option to further my potential in life and to change my trajectory altogether — the rooms I'll sit in, the people I'll meet, the hands I'll shake."

Hollins admits that the thought of committing to Virginia intimidated him. 

"How prestigious it is academically, and the history of the university itself … it scared me," he said. "But it also drew me in. It is also why I majored in African American studies and American studies, to learn as much as possible while I was here." 

Once at Virginia, Hollins excelled on and off the field. He played a significant role on his team and earned Academic All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors two years in a row. Just as he planned when he committed to Virginia, Hollins developed strong relationships with professors, coaches and teammates on campus. 

In November of 2022, Perry, who was Hollins' best friend, encouraged him to join a field trip to Washington, D.C., as part of an African American playwrights class. Hollins had never been to D.C., so he joined Perry and two other teammates to see "The Ballad of Emmett Till." 

Thinking back to that day, Hollins remembers the fond moments they spent together.

"It was freezing cold, and we were outside just talking about how we were so happy we got to do that, how blessed we were to be there and how quick we were going to be back in D.C. to see another play. It was a special, special night," he recalled.

As the bus returned to campus, a student who was on the bus opened fire.

Hollins and four other students were shot. Chandler, a wide receiver for Virginia, and Perry, a linebacker, died at the scene. Davis, a wide receiver, died at the hospital. 

"Their lives were taken on that bus that night in a gruesome way," he said. "I was able to get off the bus, and I returned to go help my friends. The shooter was exiting the bus and began to chase me, and that's when I got shot. By grace of God, I was able to get away."

 Hollins was shot twice in the back and was taken to the hospital in critical condition. He underwent multiple surgeries and a week in the intensive care unit.

"My recovery started when I opened my eyes. People think of physical recovery, but it's the mental recovery that takes maybe even a lifetime because there is no finish line. Right now, it's two years later, and I can have a conversation and feel like it was yesterday."

Physically, Hollins was able to completely recover, appearing in the Cavaliers spring football game in April and resuming his role as one of Virginia's top running backs in the fall.

Mentally, Hollins has taken steps to move forward in his recovery and keep the legacy of his brothers alive through service to others.

Coaching is one way Hollins has found to serve. After graduating from Virginia, Hollins  signed on as a graduate assistant football coach for the Cavaliers. 

"Being around the game is freeing. It always has been. Seeing these young guys walk around here, it's exciting because I was in their shoes not too long ago," he said. "When you get to the core of what coaching is, you understand it's just building a relationship with your players and learning how to communicate the most effectively. It takes time, but that's really what I'm enjoying from coaching."

As a coach, Hollins has seen the growth of these young men. This has helped Hollins' recovery, to reflect on the positive memories with his best friend and teammates. 

"I see everything that came before (the tragedy). The relationships built, all the experiences and the wins and the losses and the workouts and the classes. I think about those times, as well. It's hard for me," he said. "I have to force myself, sometimes, to think about the good times, but that's just a part of the recovery."

While he is the one receiving the Inspiration Award, Hollins said the award is really a testament to everyone who has been impacted by this tragedy.

"Receiving this award is the utmost honor, but it's really not a Mike Hollins award at all. I wish the award was the size of a piece of paper so you could fit everyone whose name should be on that award," he said. "It took the entire community of Charlottesville. The inspiration of that came from losing my brothers, and it came from watching their families persevere, watching my family persevere, watching this coaching staff persevere, this university as a whole persevere. When I say community, that's everyone who puts in any piece of support to this university, and myself, forward.

"The inspiration goes to the players, my brothers that I lost, and their mothers that I get to see pretty often, and my best friend and his mother and his family. Just watching them, man, they're the inspiration. They give me so much strength."