Paul Wulff returns to Big Sky with Sac State

Former Eastern Washington and Washington State football coach Paul Wulff is back in the Big Sky Conference.

The three-time Big Sky coach of the year has joined the Sacramento State staff as assistant head coach and run-game coordinator, the school announced Tuesday.

“To have a coach of Paul’s caliber join our staff is a great boost to the program,” said head coach Jody Sears, who worked under Wulff at both EWU and WSU.

“We have a long history coaching together and I’m very excited to have him be a part of the Hornet family,” Sears said.

Wulff played center at WSU, earning honorable mention All-America honors in 1989. He began his coaching career at EWU in 1993, was elevated to offensive coordinator in 1998 and head coach two years later after the departure of Mike Kramer.

He was named the Big Sky Coach of the Year following the 2001, 2004 and 2005 seasons and was a finalist for National Coach of the Year in 2004 and 2007.

After guiding EWU to a 53-40 record, Wulff and Sears – also a WSU alum – coached for four seasons in Pullman.

Sears was Wulff’s defensive coordinator at EWU from 2003-07 and from 2008-11 at WSU.

After his dismissal following the 2011 season, Wulff joined Jim Harbaugh’s staff with the San Francisco 49ers in 2012 as a senior offensive assistant.

He returned to college football in 2014 as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at South Florida. This past season, he was an offensive consultant at Iowa State for the final five games of 2015.

Wulff coached 23 players to FCS All-America honors, including 15 offensive linemen. His teams also featured quarterback Erik Meyer who was the Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year, the Walter Payton Award winner and set the FCS record for pass efficiency.

Wulff’s offensive line was highlighted by Michael Roos, who was an All-American for EWU before a long NFL career with the Tennessee Titans.