After a year as an assistant he was named head coach, serving in that capacity for four campaigns before accepting the same position with the Omaha Lancers.
[1] In 1994 he returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach, serving under first Doug Woog and then Don Lucia after the former retired in 1999.
Twice Guentzel served as head coach for Minnesota when Woog was suspended, first for the 1996 WCHA Title Game and a second time the following October.
Guentzel helped the Golden Gophers win back-to-back national titles in 2002 and 2003 and stayed with the team until resigning to pursue other opportunities in 2008.
Conference tournament champion †Guentzel served as interim coach for three games while Doug Woog was suspended on two occasions