John Coatta

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John Coatta
Sport(s) Football
Biographical details
Born (1929-04-05)April 5, 1929
Dearborn, Michigan
Died December 26, 2000(2000-12-26) (aged 71)
Minnetonka, Minnesota
Playing career
19491951 Wisconsin
Position(s) Quarterback
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
19591964
19651966
19661969
19701975
19771978
Florida State (assistant)
Wisconsin (assistant)
Wisconsin
Minnesota State
Minnesota (OC/QB)
Head coaching record
Overall 38503
Statistics
College Football Data Warehouse

John Coatta (April 5, 1929 December 26, 2000) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at the Wisconsin Badgers from 1967 to 1969 and at Mankato State College, now Minnesota State University, Mankato, from 1970 to 1975, compiling a career college football record of 38503.[1] Coatta played quarterback at Wisconsin from 1949 to 1951 and in 1950, he set the Big Ten Conference season pass completion percentage record (64.2%), a mark that he held until 1976.

Coaching career

In 1959, Coatta left private business in Madison, Wisconsin to accept an assistant football coaching job at Florida State University under Perry Moss and subsequently Bill Peterson. From 1959 to 1964, he coached a number of positions at the school. He then returned to Wisconsin as an assistant coach under Milt Bruhn for two seasons after which he was promoted to head coach.[2]

During his head coaching tenure at Wisconsin, Coatta compiled a 3261 (.117) record.[3] He set an NCAA record for most consecutive games without a win to begin a career with 23. Coatta did not win a game in his first two seasons. His three wins came in 1969 against Iowa, 2317, Indiana, 3634, and Illinois, 5314. Allegedly, the Badgers passed on future Michigan head coach Bo Schembechler when they hired Coatta. Schembechler was the head coach at Miami University at the time.

After Minnesota State temporarily dropped football after the 1975 season, Coatta joined the staff of Cal Stoll at the University of Minnesota as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 1977 to 1978. He later scouted for the NFL's Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks.

Head coaching record

Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs
Wisconsin Badgers (Big Ten Conference) (1967–1969)
1967 Wisconsin 091 061 T9th
1968 Wisconsin 010 07 10th
1969 Wisconsin 37 34 T5th
Wisconsin: 3261 3171
Mankato State Mavericks (North Central Conference) (1970–1975)
1970 Mankato State 721
1971 Mankato State 73
1972 Mankato State 65 34 T4th
1973 Mankato State 74 43 T3rd
1974 Mankato State 541 331 T5th
1975 Mankato State 36 25 T5th
Mankato State: 35242 12151
Total: 38503

References

  1. "Minnesota State Mavericks football media guide". Minnesota State University, Mankato. Retrieved 2010-01-01. 
  2. "1968 Badgers football facts". University of Wisconsin-Madison. Retrieved 2010-01-01. 
  3. Oliver E. Kuechle and Jim Mott, On Wisconsin: Badger Football (Huntsville, Alabama: Strode Publishers, 1977), 215.

External links

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