Ravens offensive line coach Joe D’Alessandris died early on Aug. 25 after being hospitalized a couple of weeks ago for what the team called “an acute illness.”
D’Alessandris, 70, had been the Ravens’ offensive line coach since 2017 and had spent more than 40 years coaching at just about every level of the sport.
“Our hearts ache with grief and sadness,” the team said in a statement announcing D’Alessandris’ death.
“‘Joe D’ lived a life of boundless faith, love, devotion and inspiration. As a husband, father, grandfather, friend and coach, Joe made every individual he encountered truly feel like they were the most important person in the world. Anyone fortunate enough to have spent time with Joe was forever touched by his genuine and uplifting nature.”
Head coach John Harbaugh said that D’Alessandris “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.”
General manager Eric DeCosta called D’Alessandris “a rock, a great coach and a better person. He cared about the team deeply, exhibiting a relentless passion to excel while displaying genuine love for his players.”
D’Alessandris was set to begin his eighth season in charge of the Ravens’ offensive line, and he had been on the practice field for the first couple of weeks in training camp. But on Aug. 14, the team announced that D’Alessandris had been hospitalized after complications from offseason surgery and would be away from the team for “the foreseeable future.”
Revered in the Ravens building, D’Alessandris was a firm, tough coach who wasn’t afraid to go nose-to-nose with linemen nearly 50 years younger to make a point, but he was equally passionate about them as people.
Throughout the day after D’Alessandris’ death was announced, tributes from current and former players began filling social media.
Skura went undrafted coming out of Duke in 2016, then spent a year on the Ravens’ practice squad before becoming a starter under D’Alessandris. He went on to start 51 games for the Ravens across four seasons.
Stanley became an All-Pro in 2019, the same year the Ravens set an all-time NFL record with 3,296 rushing yards.
Last season, two of D’Alessandris’ linemen — center Tyler Linderbaum and guard Kevin Zeitler — earned Pro Bowl recognition, and the Ravens led the league in rushing for the third time in the past five seasons. They ranked No. 6 in total offense.
Born in Sewickley, Pa., D’Alessandris played high school football in Aliquippa outside Pittsburgh and never really lost his Steel City accent. He starred at Western Carolina, where he was a captain and team MVP, and in 1977, that became the first stop on a nearly 50-year coaching career that spanned just about every level of the sport.
He had stints at multiple colleges, including Memphis, Tennessee-Chattanooga, Samford, Texas A&M, Pitt, Duke and Georgia Tech. He coached with Birmingham in the World League of American Football. He had two stints in the Canadian Football League, with Ottawa and Memphis. With Memphis of the Canadian league, D’Alessandris coached Bill Lewis, and then more than 20 years later, he coached Lewis’ son, Alex, with the Ravens.
D’Alessandris jumped to the NFL in 2008 as an assistant offensive line coach with the Kansas City Chiefs and became the offensive line coach for the Buffalo Bills in 2010. He spent three seasons in Buffalo and then three with the San Diego Chargers before joining the Ravens in 2017.
Praised as a fierce family man, D’Alessandris lost his wife, Toni, after an illness in 2022. He is survived by three daughters and five grandchildren.
“He raised three incredible, beautiful daughters, and he was a most loving husband,” Harbaugh said. “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.”
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