ExtremeRavens Posted August 25 Posted August 25 Joe D’Alessandris, the Ravens’ old-school tough but personally tender offensive line coach since 2017, died Sunday morning, the team announced. He was 70. The news came less than two weeks after the Ravens announced D’Alessandris had been hospitalized for an acute illness related to an earlier surgery. They hired veteran coach George Warhop to fill in. “Coach ‘Joe D.’ was a man of integrity and a man of faith,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said in a statement. “He made us all better. He was our reader at team mass, and he was loved by all here. He was a great coach and a good man – the kind of person who you are honored to have as a friend. He raised three incredible, beautiful daughters, and he was a most loving husband. His grandkids also adored him. I admired him, loved him and am going to miss him, because ‘Joe D.’ was a joy. Toni has him back now. May God bless ‘Joe D.’ forever.” General manager Eric DeCosta described D’Alessandris, who coached for 45 years, 15 of those in the NFL, as “a rock.” “He cared about the team deeply, exhibiting a relentless passion to excel while displaying genuine love for his players,” DeCosta said in a statement. “I especially treasure my conversations with him, talking about football and life. I will always remember standing back with Joe on the practice field and watching him up close with his players. Coach was the consummate teacher and friend, and I will miss him deeply. Our thoughts and prayers go to Joe’s daughters and family and everyone touched by Joe’s remarkable spirit.” D’Alessandris coached Pro Bowl linemen Marshal Yanda, Ronnie Stanley, Orlando Brown Jr., Kevin Zeitler and Tyler Linderbaum but showed just as deep an interest in the less acclaimed linemen he helped develop such as Ben Powers, Ryan Jensen and Bradley Bozeman. “I’ll never forget that laugh,” Stanley said Sunday in a post on X. “Thank you coach D.” D’Alessandris was engaged in guiding a youth movement on this year’s Ravens line before he was hospitalized. After the team’s first padded practice in late July, he said: “I saw the linemen do a very nice job. I told them all, ‘I saw a lot of good blocks by all of you.’ But I saw some blocks we got to get better with. That’s my job to help them get better, and we’ll do that.” When Harbaugh announced D’Alessandris was in the hospital earlier this month, he said: “It’s a blow; it’s a blow; because he’s a great football coach — he’s beloved by the players [and] by the coaches. He’s [also] a top game planner [and] a top coach.” D’Alessandris was born on April 29, 1954, and grew up in an Italian-speaking household in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. His father, Giuseppe, was a steelworker, and D’Alessandris also worked summer jobs at the mill, an enduring source of anecdotes he’d share with his millennial players. But the Western Pennsylvania of his youth was also a cradle for standout football players and coaches. The game drew D’Alessandris in, and he left home to became a star guard and captain at Western Carolina University. There he met his future wife of 42 years, Toni, who died in 2022 from a rare form of Parkinson’s disease. He spoke to The Athletic last year about how coaching provided him comfort as he grieved her. “I don’t have that person to just talk to,” D’Alessandris said. “I miss that.” He is survived by three daughters, Anna Thomas, Kelly Olsen, and Emily D’Alessandris, and five grandchildren. It was this tight-knit family Ravens officials thought of Sunday as they mourned their colleague. “He was a passionate and devoted football coach who left an indelible mark on the lives of many. Above all, he was a dedicated husband, father and grandfather who always prioritized his faith and family,” team president Sashi Brown said in a statement. “True to character, ‘Joe D.’ was a fighter to the very end. … We take comfort in knowing that he is reunited with his late wife, Toni, whom he loved dearly.” Joe D’Alessandris, pictured during minicamp in June, had coached the Ravens’ offensive line since 2017. (Kevin Richardson/Staff) D’Alessandris was a true coaching lifer, moving his family to all corners of the country as he shaped young blockers for teams ranging from high school to Texas A&M to the short-lived Memphis Mad Dogs of the Canadian Football League. He broke into the NFL in 2008 with the Kansas City Chiefs, also working for the Buffalo Bills (2010-12) and the then-San Diego Chargers (2013-15). Greg Roman had just joined the Ravens as a senior offensive assistant in 2017 when he helped arrange an interview for D’Alessandris to fill the offensive line coach job vacated by Juan Castillo. The fit proved ideal as D’Alessandris, who loved to demand physical play from his charges, joined a team that was about set NFL rushing records with Lamar Jackson at quarterback. He became a familiar sight at practice, wearing his trademark black shorts, high socks and black Nike shoes as he cajoled the massive men in his unit to do their best. “He cares about his players,” Yanda said during their first season working together. “He’s a technician guy, just like most line coaches are. We’re learning each other and getting to know each other, but I like what I see. He’s a good, hard-nosed coach.” D’Alessandris would get after his linemen during drills but never spoke ill of them in interviews, preferring to lay out an optimistic vision of what they might become. “That’s one thing about offensive line play: It’s a growth each day — one step at a time,” he said, outlining his philosophy shortly after he joined Harbaugh’s staff. “You try to grasp a concept, grow with it, when it shows or presents itself tomorrow or the next day, we see some more growth.” Current and former Ravens and people from around the football world shared their love for D’Alessandris in social media posts Sunday. “Get your Rest Coach,” quarterback Jackson wrote on Instagram, accompanied by clasped prayer hands. “A great man who made a football team better and made people better,” wide receiver Nelson Agholor posted on Instagram. ESPN analyst Field Yates, who worked with D’Alessandris on the Chiefs’ staff, called him “one of the single kindest folks I ever worked with during my time in the NFL” in an X post. “He was a diligent teacher who poured countless hours into the development of players of all capabilities,” Yates wrote. “Above all, he was a dedicated family man.” View the full article Quote
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