John Coatta (April 5, 1929 – December 26, 2000) was an American football player, coach, and scout.

[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 1977.

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.

[3] He set an National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) record for most consecutive games without a win to begin a career with 23.

Allegedly, the Badgers passed on future Michigan head coach Bo Schembechler when they hired Coatta.