BUFFALO, NY ­ University at Buffalo head football coach Jim Hofher has begun assembling his football staff and added some familiar faces as his first two assistants.

Hofher has tabbed Jim Knowles, who has spent the past four seasons at Western Michigan helping the Broncos to back-to-back MAC Championship game appearances, as his defensive coordinator. He also has named Bill Lazor, who has been the recruiting coordinator, quarterbacks, offensive backs and tight end coach at Cornell, as the Bulls' quarterbacks coach.

Knowles coached at Cornell University from 1987-96, working on Hofher's staff when he was the head coach of the Big Red from 1990-97. While at Cornell, Knowles coached the defensive line, linebackers and running backs and oversaw recruiting and special teams. A 1987 graduate of Cornell, Knowles has spent the past four seasons at Western Michigan under head coach Gary Darnell.

In addition to his duties as defensive line coach at WMU, he was also named recruiting coordinator last year and helped the Broncos to a 9-3 record this past season and 16 wins in the past two years. This past season, the Broncos ranked ninth in the entire nation in total defense, allowing just 283.3 yards per game. Western also ranked second in the MAC in points allowed (11.6). In addition, two Western Michigan players ­ Anthony Allsbury (first team) and Chris Browning (second team) ­ earned All-MAC honors under Knowles' tutelage this past season.

A Philadelphia native, Knowles, 35, earned All-Catholic and All-City honors at St. Joseph's Prep. He and his wife, Nancy, have a daughter (Halle, 5) and a son (Luke, 3).

Lazor, meanwhile, also has strong ties to Hofher and Cornell. A record-breaking quarterback under Hofher from 1991-93, Lazor set 26 school passing and total offense records while with the Big Red. After earning his degree in 1994, he joined the Cornell staff full-time in March of 1995 and coached the receivers, offensive backs, quarterbacks and tight ends from 1995 through this past season. In addition to his coaching duties, Lazor has also been the Big Red's recruiting coordinator since 1998.

A native of Scranton, PA, Lazor still holds the Cornell career records for passing attempts (873), completions (470), yards (5,697) and touchdowns (34). This past season, Lazor served as the Big Red's passing game coordinator and helped Cornell average nearly 300 yards passing per game (294.4) and 26.4 points per game. Cornell quarterbacks threw 18 touchdowns this past season and quarterback Ricky Rahne set a school record with 22 touchdown tosses in 1999.

Lazor is married to the former Nicole Pasquariello, Cornell Class of '95.

"We are extremely pleased to have two coaches like Jim Knowles and Bill Lazor join our staff," said Hofher. "We have worked together before and it's exciting to have a chance to work together again. Jim Knowles joins us from a championship program in the MAC as he arrives from Western Michigan, and Bill Lazor has been instrumental in Cornell's offense and its productivity over the past two years with its record-setting performances."