Former Washington State coach Paul Wulff is returning to the Big Sky Conference.

Wulff, who was the head coach at Eastern Washington before his four-year stint at WSU from 2008-11, was hired as the assistant head coach, offensive line coach and run-game coordinator at Sacramento State, according to the Sacramento Bee.

Hornets coach Jody Sears and Wulff were teammates at WSU in the late 1980s and Sears served as an assistant under Wulff at Eastern Washington from 2003-2007.

“We have a lot in common; obviously we’re good friends,” Sears told the Bee. “He is a wonderful person to work with. The person he is coincides with the expertise we are going to get from the football side of things. He was an awesome offensive line coach, and he has a wonderful offensive mind.”

After going 9-40 at WSU, including a 4-32 mark in conference play, Wulff spent the next two seasons as an assistant offensive line coach on Jim Harbaugh’s staff with the San Francisco 49ers. He parlayed that into the offensive coordinator role at South Florida –under Harbaugh’s close friend, Willie Taggart – but lasted just one season. Wulff’s most recent gig was at Iowa State, where spent the second half of the 2015 season as a volunteer assistant.

Wulff’s return to the Big Sky, where he posted a 53-40 overall record in eight seasons as a head coach, doubles as a homecoming. He grew up in Davis, just outside of Sacramento, and still has family in the area.

“I’ve got two boys, ages 9 and 12, and wanted the opportunity to come back to family and friends,” Wulff told the Bee. “And Jody and I are as close as can be without being brothers. I want to help him move things along at Sac State. I’ve always thought that it could be a special place [where you could] do special things.”

The Hornets went 2-9 last season.