WILLIAMSBURG —After helping lead the William & Mary football team to one of its most successful seasons in the program’s 129-year history, offensive coordinator Christian Taylor was an inaugural recipient of the GRAPHITE Award, which recognizes offensive play calling efficiency.
Taylor garnered the accolade, which is presented by RII Sports Technology, after helping the Tribe post a 77.3 percent play calling efficiency rating (PCER) during the 2022 campaign. The impressive figure led all teams in the Colonial Athletic Association and ranked in the 80th percentile among all FCS programs.
“I am excited about the award and recognition that coach Taylor has revived,” W&M Head Coach Mike London said. “It is well deserved. I know he would credit the entire offensive side of the ball for their efforts as well. I look forward to seeing the prospects and progress of this season offense as well under coach Taylor’s leadership.”
Under Taylor’s guidance, W&M ascended to new heights in 2022 as he utilized a fundamentally sound, explosive and creative offensive philosophy that generated record-setting numbers. Evidence of W&M’s success is found in the squad’s statistical national rankings as it concluded the regular season among the country’s best in yards per play, explosive runs, passing yards per attempt and rushing yards per carry.
The Tribe also set single-season school records for rushing yards (3,455), rushing yards per game (265.8) and rushing yards per carry (5.9), while its points per game (33.5), rushing touchdowns (35) and total yards per game (448.8) all ranked among the program’s top five best figures.
Each season RII Sports Technology analyzes every Division I football program’s play-by-play data and assesses the degree to which play callers made decisions that aligned their team’s strengths on their opponent’s weaknesses. A play caller’s efficiency is a measure of how well they put their team in advantageous strength-on-weakness positions and minimize the number of times they operate from a disadvantage.
RII Sports Technology’s deep roots are in the field of engineering (for decades it has worked with organizations such as NASA, Lockheed-Martin, Boeing and the Department of Defense supporting the development of new technologies) and is the inspiration behind this award’s name. Graphite is a highly efficient engineering material — it has a very low coefficient of friction and is a very good conductor of electricity — and captures well the spirit of this achievement.
Ranked among the top 10 nationally in multiple preseason polls, W&M is coming off a historic 2022 campaign in which it equaled a school record with 11 victories, advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals and won a share of the CAA title.
Led by 2022 Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year Finalist Mike London, the Tribe will return a host of talent on both sides of the ball this fall as it looks to defend its CAA title and make a return to the NCAA Playoffs. Tickets are on sale and available at TribeAthletics.com.
The Tribe will open its 2023 slate at Campbell on Thursday, Aug. 31, while its home opener at Zable Stadium against Wofford will be the following weekend (Sept. 9).