Scottie Montgomery has already tried changing defensive schemes and coordinators to no avail this season. Now, the East Carolina football coach has decided to bring in some veteran guidance in hopes of improving the nation’s worst FBS defense.
Montgomery announced Tuesday that he has added 73-year-old John Gutekunst to his staff to serve as a “defensive analyst.” This is the second time Gutekunst has worked at ECU. He also served as a special teams assistant under Skip Holtz on the Conference USA championship team of 2009.
Gutekunst has also been an assistant at North Carolina, Wake Forest, Duke and NC A&T, as well as the head coach at Minnesota from 1985-91. He started this season coaching inside linebackers at A&T.
A former two-sport star at Duke, Gutekunst played football for the Blue Devils under Hall of Fame coach Bill Murray from 1963-65, serving as team captain during his senior year. He also earned three varsity letters in baseball.
Gutekunst faces the unenviable task of working with a defense that is allowing an average of 599.5 yards and 47.8 points per game — including 50 or more in three of its five losses. The Pirates are scheduled to play Central Florida, the nation’s highest-scoring FBS team, Saturday in Orlando.
