Alan O. Gowans (January 28, 1899 – June 14, 1965) was an American football and basketball coach. He served as the head football coach at Des Moines University in Des Moines, Iowa from 1926 to 1928 and Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota from 1930 to 1936. Gowans was also the head basketball coach at Macalester in 1936–37. Gowans was a native of Emmetsburg, Iowa. He earned a master's degree at the University of Minnesota. After leaving Macalester, Gowans coached football at Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis. He died of cancer on June 14, 1965, in Minneapolis.