Air Force offensive coordinator Mike Thiessen has been named a 2025 Graphite Award winner, marking the second time he has received this recognition. He previously won the award in 2023.
The Graphite Award, presented by RII Sports Technology, honors the most efficient offensive and defensive play callers in each Division I football conference. The selection is based on an analysis of play-by-play data from all Division I FBS football programs. RII Sports Technology evaluates how well coaches align their team’s strengths with opponents’ weaknesses through a metric called Play Calling Efficiency Ratio (PCER). This ratio measures how often a play caller puts their team in advantageous positions while minimizing disadvantageous situations.
Tom Woods, founder of RII Sports Technology, said, “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 name “Graphite Award” reflects RII Sports Technology’s background in aerospace and defense engineering. Graphite is known for its efficiency as an engineering material due to its low friction and high electrical conductivity.
Thiessen was recognized as one of several coordinators across different conferences who demonstrated high efficiency in play calling during the 2025 season. Other winners included Jordan Davis from North Texas (AAC), Shannon Dawson from Miami (ACC), Mike Shanahan from Indiana (BIG10), Jason Beck from Utah (BIG12), Tony Franklin from Louisiana Tech (CUSA), Gordon Sammis from UConn (Independents), Robert Weiner from Toledo (MAC), Ryan Gunderson from Oregon State (PAC12), Derrick Nix from Auburn (SEC), and Rod Smith from Marshall (Sun Belt).
On defense, winners included Jordon Hankins from Memphis (AAC), Randy Bates from Pittsburgh (ACC), Bryant Haines from Indiana (BIG10), Sheil Wood from Texas Tech (BIG12), Luke Olson from Louisiana Tech (CUSA), Chris Ash from Notre Dame (Independents), Vince Kehres from Toledo (MAC), Nick Benedetto from Fresno State (MWC), Jesse Bobbit from Washington State (PAC12), Jay Bateman from Texas A&M (SEC) and Colin Hitschler from James Madison (Sun Belt).
RII Sports Technology highlighted that operating plays where a team’s strength matches up against an opponent’s weakness can significantly increase success rates. In 2025, when teams made such calls they succeeded 66% of the time compared to just 39% when facing strength-on-weakness situations. However, only about 40% of plays were called under these favorable conditions on average.
Woods added: “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.”
Comprehensive reports detailing every offensive and defensive play call for all Division I FBS and FCS programs during the 2025 season are available upon request through RII Sports Technology.
