Everybody knew when he committed around 11 months ago, it was a big deal.
What I didn't realize, and I think a lot of the fanbase didn't as well, was how emotional of player he is and for all the right reasons.
This was the second game I went to this this year, the Duke game being the first. In both games Dax was pumping up the crowd every chance he could get, running around congratulating teammates, and after Rogers epic speech at the end of the third quarter he was the first run over to him and embrace him.
This week, there have been a lot of fans questioning whether or not Fuente has lost the team, myself included. But after being at the game yesterday and seeing guys like Dax emotionally firing up the teams and the fans at every instance he can, I know longer believe this at all. It's been a rough year, and a forgettable one at that. But for this program to get back to where we want it all to be, it all starts with leadership. I suspect over the next couple years, Dax is going to be that main man. That man (yes, man) has been a Hokie for less than a year, and he already bleeds maroon and orange as much as the rest of the us.
15 straight.
Comments
I've only been to the Miami and UVA games (and will attend the Marshall game before flying back to the wrong coast), but I was pleasantly surprised that he's become such a vocal leader both on the field and on the sideline. It's rare for a freshman to step into that sort of role, and I feel like even Sam Rogers was more of a "lead by example" type for his first year or two before transitioning into the vocal and emotional leader we all remember him to be.
Something tells me the next 3 years are going to be special, what with all the freshman that we've had step up this year, with Dax maybe being the biggest surprise of the bunch.
Its rare when you have upperclassmen on the team, not so much when the team is full of freshman.
Let's talk about Dax, baby.
Let's talk about the Hokies.
Let's talk about all the good wins
And the bad wins, that may be,
Let's talk aboutttt Dax!
This is what I came here to post. I guess I gotta be quicker than that.
This cell phone recording of the TV to make a GIF is absolutely hilarious.
Dax probably has O&M colored jet fuel for blood... but he doesn't bleed so we'll never know for sure.
I have been watching the sidelines all year. I think we lack emotional senior leadership this year. Dax is definitely a hype man, and it seems to me that he has a great relationship with the other young stars like, Turner, Mitchell, QP. Considering the amount of PT they all got this season, they will all grow up fast. It should be a special few years with this group.
After watching the senior day festivities I believe it's more appropriate to say we
Speaking of Sam Rogers epic speech, I would love for him to get into coaching and one day work for VT as a coach.
We could try him out at OC, for starters
Why do so many people think emotion correlates to coaching ability?
I like Sam and he's probably a smart guy but pumping up the crowd after the 3rd quarter is in no way indicative of his coaching ability. I remember my high school coach screamed and kicked a trash can before games and I can assure you that not only did I think that schtick was ridiculous, but he was a crappy coach to boot.
With regards to Sam Rogers, I think the time he spent in the tape room going over everything and learning from it, as well as trying to teach others from it, speaks more than his emotion. However, he has emotion to spare, and a passion for the game. That's what I think would make him a great coach.
Its almost sad this game wasn't played earlier in the year. A lot of players came into their own last night and I think some leadership roles were formed throughout that contest. Nothing like going all out to beat your hated rival to bring the true nature of a team into the spotlight, and I liked what I saw. What we lacked in crisp execution, we made up for in sheer determination. If we can get the skill and execution to align with that mentality, we're going to be a nightmare of a team to play against in the near future.
While I agree that I wish I had seen this effort earlier in the year. I think it may have taken the ugly losses to get here. It's just one game so it is hard to tell, but I feel like the roller coaster of this year might translate into great things for these guys over the next few seasons.
Last year we saw Gaines make a huge jump at the UVA game. Farley has looked better in coverage every game for the last month. Tre got more playing time last 2 weeks. Rivalry games help, but they finally have seen things on the field and know what to do with them. I don't think we need the losing, they just needed more opportunity.
I dunno about Farley still so many missed tacklrs and poor angles he made a big play or two but the mistakes have not been getting better
Yes, if there is one complaint there, it's that he misses too many tackles.
There is a reason I said coverage. His run support needs a lot of work. But his position on the receivers and playing the ball in the air look a lot better.
Not to mention his technique on pass breakups is very good. If I remember correctly he's got the least PI calls (if any) of anyone on the team.
I may be way out of line here but I'm sold on Farley as a DB still. On one of the touchdowns he had this weird hop when the receiver caught the ball that got him out of position and the receiver just ran by him. He's one of the best athletes but him at DB seems like putting a square peg in a round hole with a jackhammer
Yeah but does he fuck?
Rhetorical question.
I knew Dax was going to be a maniac when I saw the video of him dancing on the sideline against FSU. He really is ridiculously good, and has NFL written all over him. He keeps his head on straight and he's going to be a slam dunk All-American and could end up as one of the best defensive players we've ever had.
The Ashby-Dax tandem is gonna be an all-timer
Don't doubt their potential but they have a long way to go:
He said "an all-timer", not "the all-timer"
"
RicoRayshard and Dax" the hit new buddy cop drama tonight on Fox!Seriously, Dax has been "as advertised", but Ashby has been a pleasant surprise". I think it's all about ceiling here and Dax would seem to have the higher, but Ashby has that "something to prove" chip and that turns the good ones into great (Think Kam Chancellor)...I'm excited and not at all concerned about our future at LB.
cough Dax is better at getting off blocks cough
Perfect player for this year's defense. Can't imagine where we'd be without his fire and versatility as a player.
3-8
I was worried he broke his wrist in the 2nd quarter. There was a tackle where he got up visibly in pain and leaving it loose up against his chest.
Glad we didn't lose him for the 2nd half.
For the next 20 minutes or so he was using his left hand to stretch his right arm behind his back. He was playing hurt and didn't miss a beat.
Training staff did make him a brace on the sideline.
Watching him warm up, his size and the way he moves, he "looks"
like a 4 star recruit. It makes you understand the importance of talent.
Then his enthusiasm is becoming real fun to watch - the jumping around, raising
arms in the air. Fun having him out there.
I fucking love Dax. Perfect player for this defense.
Dax is the definition of a pup with huge paws. You can just see the future with him
Thanks for this description, it made my night. . It ranks right up there with "Dalton Keene running down the field like a baby deer"... or something to that effect. I drink and I butcher quotes, it is what I do..
Lol I loved watching him absolutely losing his mind in the first half and pumping up the crowd even more after a simple false start.
I look forward to seeing this young defense next year. I have more confidence in them and Bud Foster's coaching, than I do for the offense and its coaching.
We're after his brother, too, aren't we?
UVA fans really are not a fan of Dax. I didn't see him doing anything extracurricular involving UVA's players. He's just highly emotional and always trying to pump up the crowd and celebrate with his teammates. I guess they're just not used to seeing a player do that.
I can see how people say he was taunting Perkins when he was limping. Which isnt the best look to taunt an injured player. But UVA fans were really upset with Walker too and he just played well.
They better get used to the next two-years of being Dax'd
I see what you did there!!!!
Him telling Perkins to get off the field I thought was hilarious. It's a rivalry and Perkins wasn't seriously injured and I for one, love shit talking and want to see us be good enough again to back it all up
Hillary in a polo on the sidelines seemed to compliment Dax's enthusiasm as well.
F emotions and waving your arms a bunch. He has to prove it every snap. And, when VT needed stops to have a chance at the end of the game, he made some individual plays (along with Walker) that made some good things happen.
I have to disagree with you, the thing we have lacked recently on defense is emotion, guys make plays and show no emotion, give me chest bumps, high fives, guys flying around having fun. Dax has been our only guy on defense showing any kind of emotion.
I think we've played with emotion at times (FSU stands out to me). The difference is it's infinitely harder to stay pumped when times are tough. Dax definitely stands out as the bright spot of a maligned defense.
If you've ever played on a team with a highly emotional person who doesn't produce, you would certainly understand what French is saying. A guy on my high school team was a raving lunatic in the locker room and frequently started fights with underclassmen. He was only a borderline starter and missed our playoff game because he "went camping and wiped with poison ivy." That type of teammate sucks and is a cancer to the team.
Anyway it's become clear to me recently that outward displays of emotion are vastly overvalued by our fans. People are more than happy to forgive Willis for making a poor read and throwing an interception because he shows emotion, especially if they can place the blame on Cornelson instead.
Sorry, I want to see passion for the game, passion for competing, intensity, focus. Watching guys in pads and helmets from 100's of feet away means that the player has be pretty demonstrative for their passion to be evident. Guys like Dax, Grimsley, Willis, Hazelton, Hill (before he was booted), Gaines and Chung get that message across.
As good as he is, Walker just doesn't express himself to a level that is observable from the stands/TV. And that's fine. And I'm not saying that every player needs to be so obviously passionate, but fans need to be able to relate, and celebrating a great play or agonizing over a blown coverage or bad call is something that we all do.
p.s. nobody forgives Willis for displaying emotion after throwing an INT we forgive him because he was so dedicated and passionate that he chased down a DB and kept points off the board. Instead of a 10 point swing that INT was merely a 3 point swing - because he cared. Because he had passion, his mistake's impact was minimized. I'd rather have seen him celebrating a TD pass to the end zone of course, but that doesn't mean the passion on display isn't enjoyable.
That's fine if you want to say you like seeing emotion as a fan but that's not what I'm debating. I'm saying emotion does not correlate to greatness for a player or a coach. Emotion does not influence your 40 time or play calling abilities. For some people, emotion can help them focus and perform better. For others, emotion serves as a distraction from focus and performance. There are scores of Hall of Fame players who display minimal emotion. As you pointed out, Walker isn't prone to emotional outbursts on the field but he is critically important to this team.
Also if I paraphrase your quote regarding Willis, it reads, "nobody forgives Willis for displaying emotion, we forgive him because he's so passionate." What exactly is the difference between displaying emotion and being passionate? You said yourself that some fans like seeing emotion, so just say,
"we like Willis for his emotion." I really don't care either way as long as people don't inappropriately assign blame under the pretense that displaying emotion automatically means that person is a better player or coach.
The simple fact that he made the effort to run down the DB is what I'm talking about. He didn't stand around and pout or feel bad about himself for throwing a pick (one type of emotional reaction) for even a second... instead he stayed in the moment and reacted immediately to his mistake in the best way possible and pulled off the TD saving tackle.
In other words he kept fighting, never gave up. That kind of passion and intensity is fun to watch and provides a boost to interest of the fans and a boost to the morale of the team.
I could care less about "displaying" passion, you know what some one passionate for the game does? They watch film, they execute the game plan, they see some thing in the formation which they exploit for a big play. They come to play. Willis isnt passionate because he has tears, he is passionate because he corrects his mistakes as best he can. Floyd is passionate because he runs down the Pitt player, Grimsley is passlonate because he chases the play and ends up with the ball in the end zone, Dalton is passionate because he pancakes two guys for mcclease and that's his fucking ball!
I dont care if you wave for arms around like a buffoon. But you want to show that you love football, ignore the idiot fans like me and get better and get drafted and play in the NFL when everyone thought you sucked. Bone back from summer ready to play run support, ready to plow through DEs, ready to catch every ball you get a pinky on. That's passion.
He's 18-years-old, you expect him to already be Brian Urlacher?
We can celebrate his youthful enthusiasm while realizing he's nowhere near a finished product.
Understand the context of my comment. If he doesn't make the plays, he is a grandstanding buffoon. He made the plays. That is the difference. You can gyrate and scream all you want. If you don't back it up, you aren't leading anything nor are you creating positive emotion.
Dax brought the lumber on Friday. He backed it up. That, we need more of. The rest of it, hey if it works, awesome.
Yeah, I had to read your full comment to see this as your point. I agree 100%. It's like the guys who are beating their chests after making a tackle when their D has given up 35 points on 300 yards, in 1 half of play.
I am hoping he can take it to Mark Messier levels.
Guarantee before game 6 when down 2-3 in the series, 3 goals and an assist after being down 0-2 late in the 2nd period. Messier really avoided a buffoon situation and cemented his place as a great.
Am I hoping for too much? I will settle for a Jimmy Williams level of arm waving and production.
Ah my bad, I read your comment too quickly.
Tech's nastiest defenses back in the Big East (2002 and 2003 not included) and ACC days had guys waving their arms and inciting the crowd. Give me all the emotion as long as they're channeling it correctly, which Dax does.
Edit: changed "ground" to "crowd." Not really sure why anyone would want to incite the ground.
Don't walk that back-
The goal line and the 30 had very inspired performances.
I stand corrected.
The flashes of potential are showing more frequently - i.e. think of adibi as a freshman sacking the GT QB (who was mobile, but I can't remember his name) in the open field. I remember thinking wow, what an athletic play, but he wasn't all ACC yet. Dax needs to channel that energy into shedding blocks more consistently and managing his fits better and he will turn into a star. I like the emotion although people love it when you play well and hate it when you get beat. I think this team needs some outward passion at times as focused effort makes a difference in many college games. I will be super interested to see if Dax's passion translates into the off-season work on the mental and physical side of things to max out his potential on the field. If that is the case then wave your arms and get fired up because that is your personality every day and not just game day - Go hokies.
Here's just my two cents. Dax was a star in high school, but let's be honest. Making plays in Lane Stadium is on a completely different level of awesome that is still very new to him. As he becomes more accustomed to succeeding in this atmosphere, he'll probably calm down a bit (although I'll go on the record as one who loves seeing the emotion as long as it correlates with TEAM results).
I really like his emotion level; we really need someone like him this year on the defensive side. But after looking at Giftory, I'm not really a fan of his "get off the field" reaction to the injured QB. Injuries are not something to be mocked, IM(ns)HO.
Yeah, I have to agree with your take. It was bush league and over the top. Now, truth be told, Perkins was so hurt that he only ran for 112 yds or so and was responsible for the bulk of lol's offense, so I'm not sold on his "injury" being any sort of limiting factor on his effectiveness, but this was not a good look and is one of the very few justified criticisms UVA fans can make about the Hokies in this game. I suspect his coaches will have a word with him about the limits to appropriate exuberance.
Well he did a pretty good job with putting together all our miscellaneous pieces this past weekend
Then he'll always have a good income source, once he's done in the NFL
Fact: Dax Hollifield has a Death Wish