The new FAU coaching staff is shaping up to have a Midwest feel to it.

In the past couple of days, new Owls head football coach Carl Pelini hired Jeff Sims and Ross Watson, both of whom have worked with him before at different Midwest schools.

Sims, who was the recruiting coordinator at Indiana University (IU) last year, worked with Pelini in 2004 as an offensive coordinator at Minnesota State. He is expected to coach the offensive unit in some capacity, but his specific role with the Owls is yet to be determined.

He has no Division I coaching experience outside of his time at IU. But Sims, a former junior college coach at Fort Scott Junior College, has already helped FAU receive commitments from two quarterbacks, a junior college defensive back and a local receiver according to owlaccess.com.

Watson, 27, will be an assistant coach for FAU, coaching the defensive backs, according to the Sun-Sentinel. Watson spent the past four seasons at Nebraska with Pelini, the first three as a graduate assistant and the last as an intern.

He was also a defensive backs coach at Mount Union in the two seasons preceding his time at Nebraska. Watson and Pelini are both natives of Youngstown, Ohio.

Pelini expects to have a full coaching staff in place after the completion of the bowl games on Jan. 9, according to HuskersIllustrated.com.