John Gutekunst (born April 13, 1944) is an American football coach and former player. He served as the head football coach at the University of Minnesota from 1985 to 1991, compiling a record of 29–37–2. Gutekunst came to Minnesota in 1984 as an assistant coach and took over as interim head coach in 1985 for the Independence Bowl after Lou Holtz left the team to become the head coach at Notre Dame. Gutekunst was promoted to head coach before the next season. He has also served as an assistant coach at Duke University, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Wake Forest University, Rutgers University, the University of Rhode Island, the University of South Carolina, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and East Carolina University. He joined the East Carolina staff