Mike Thiessen recognized for second time as one of college football’s most efficient play callers
2/18/2026 1:36:00 PM | Football
Air Force offensive coordinator Mike Thiessen has been recognized as a 2025 Graphite Award winner as one of the most efficient callers in college football. This season marks the second year Thiessen has been honored, as he also won the award in 2023.
RII Sports Technology recognizes the most efficient offensive and defensive play caller in each Division I football conference. Each year RII Sports Technology analyzes play-by-play data for all Division I FBS football programs and assesses the degree to which offensive and defensive play callers make
decisions that best align their team's strengths with their opponent's weaknesses. This assessment is quantified in a Play Calling Efficiency Ratio (PCER) – a measure of how frequently a play caller put their team in advantageous strength-on-weakness positions while minimizing the number of times they operated from a disadvantage.
Tom Woods, RII Sports Technology's founder, explained - "This award is about recognizing the coaches that are getting the most out of what they've got, not wasting plays, knowing well their
opponents, and being smart in the creation and application of their gameplans. Some of the best play callers aren't necessarily associated with the highest ranked teams, but they are the ones
that didn't hold their teams back, the ones that helped their offenses or defenses maximize their potential in ways that few other play callers were able to do last season."
The Graphite Award's name is a nod to RII Sports Technology's deep engineering roots in the Aerospace & Defense industry; graphite is a highly efficient engineering material – with a very
low coefficient of friction and high electrical conductivity – and embodies the spirit of the play calling efficiency demonstrated by this year's winners:
FBS Graphite Award Winners Offensive Coordinator by Conference:
AAC: Jordan Davis, North Texas
ACC: Shannon Dawson, Miami
BIG10: Mike Shanahan, Indiana
BIG12: Jason Beck, Utah
CUSA: Tony Franklin, Louisiana Tech
Independents: Gordon Sammis, UConn
MAC: Robert Weiner, Toledo
MWC: Mike Thiessen, Air Force
PAC12: Ryan Gunderson, Oregon State
SEC: Derrick Nix, Auburn
Sun Belt: Rod Smith, Marshall
FBS Graphite Award Winners Defensive Coordinator by Conference:
AAC: Jordon Hankins, Memphis
ACC: Randy Bates, Pittsburgh
BIG10: Bryant Haines, Indiana
BIG12: Sheil Wood, Texas Tech
CUSA: Luke Olson, Louisiana Tech
Independents: Chris Ash, Notre Dame
MAC: Vince Kehres, Toledo
MWC: Nick Benedetto, Fresno State
PAC12: Jesse Bobbit, Washington State
SEC: Jay Bateman, Texas A&M
Sun Belt: Colin Hitschler, James Madison
The importance of operating from strength-on-weakness positions when calling plays may seem intuitively obvious, but when quantified the impact is striking. Last year when the average DI
football team operated from a strength-on-weakness play calling position they were successful 66% of the time, but when they operated from a weakness-on-strength position they were
successful just 39% of the time. And when you consider that the typical play-caller only called roughly 40% of their plays from a strength-on-weakness position, there's plenty of room for
improvement for most teams. "Being in the right type of call at the right time is key, and it is something that play callers can see in data well before game time. These play callers did it better
than anyone else in their conference last year," says Woods.
Detailed 2025 Graphite Play Calling reports are available on request for all Division I FBS and FCS football programs. These reports show every offensive and defensive play call from the 2025
season, where the call fell on the strength-on-weakness continuum, and an assessment of other play calling alternatives. Interested staff members are encouraged to contact RII Sports Technology for their team's report.
RII Sports Technology recognizes the most efficient offensive and defensive play caller in each Division I football conference. Each year RII Sports Technology analyzes play-by-play data for all Division I FBS football programs and assesses the degree to which offensive and defensive play callers make
decisions that best align their team's strengths with their opponent's weaknesses. This assessment is quantified in a Play Calling Efficiency Ratio (PCER) – a measure of how frequently a play caller put their team in advantageous strength-on-weakness positions while minimizing the number of times they operated from a disadvantage.
Tom Woods, RII Sports Technology's founder, explained - "This award is about recognizing the coaches that are getting the most out of what they've got, not wasting plays, knowing well their
opponents, and being smart in the creation and application of their gameplans. Some of the best play callers aren't necessarily associated with the highest ranked teams, but they are the ones
that didn't hold their teams back, the ones that helped their offenses or defenses maximize their potential in ways that few other play callers were able to do last season."
The Graphite Award's name is a nod to RII Sports Technology's deep engineering roots in the Aerospace & Defense industry; graphite is a highly efficient engineering material – with a very
low coefficient of friction and high electrical conductivity – and embodies the spirit of the play calling efficiency demonstrated by this year's winners:
FBS Graphite Award Winners Offensive Coordinator by Conference:
AAC: Jordan Davis, North Texas
ACC: Shannon Dawson, Miami
BIG10: Mike Shanahan, Indiana
BIG12: Jason Beck, Utah
CUSA: Tony Franklin, Louisiana Tech
Independents: Gordon Sammis, UConn
MAC: Robert Weiner, Toledo
MWC: Mike Thiessen, Air Force
PAC12: Ryan Gunderson, Oregon State
SEC: Derrick Nix, Auburn
Sun Belt: Rod Smith, Marshall
FBS Graphite Award Winners Defensive Coordinator by Conference:
AAC: Jordon Hankins, Memphis
ACC: Randy Bates, Pittsburgh
BIG10: Bryant Haines, Indiana
BIG12: Sheil Wood, Texas Tech
CUSA: Luke Olson, Louisiana Tech
Independents: Chris Ash, Notre Dame
MAC: Vince Kehres, Toledo
MWC: Nick Benedetto, Fresno State
PAC12: Jesse Bobbit, Washington State
SEC: Jay Bateman, Texas A&M
Sun Belt: Colin Hitschler, James Madison
The importance of operating from strength-on-weakness positions when calling plays may seem intuitively obvious, but when quantified the impact is striking. Last year when the average DI
football team operated from a strength-on-weakness play calling position they were successful 66% of the time, but when they operated from a weakness-on-strength position they were
successful just 39% of the time. And when you consider that the typical play-caller only called roughly 40% of their plays from a strength-on-weakness position, there's plenty of room for
improvement for most teams. "Being in the right type of call at the right time is key, and it is something that play callers can see in data well before game time. These play callers did it better
than anyone else in their conference last year," says Woods.
Detailed 2025 Graphite Play Calling reports are available on request for all Division I FBS and FCS football programs. These reports show every offensive and defensive play call from the 2025
season, where the call fell on the strength-on-weakness continuum, and an assessment of other play calling alternatives. Interested staff members are encouraged to contact RII Sports Technology for their team's report.
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