Baltimore Ravens offensive line coach Joe D’Alessandris dies at 70

OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Joe D’Alessandris, who spent nearly a half-century coaching offensive linemen and eventually played for four different NFL teams, has died. He was 70.

The Baltimore Ravens, D’Alessandris’ employer since 2017, announced that he died Sunday. Hospitalized earlier this month for an unspecified illness.and that caused him to step away from his duties as the team’s offensive line coach.

Coach John Harbaugh said at the time that D’Alessandris had undergone surgery earlier this summer and had experienced complications.

“Our hearts are filled with grief and sadness as we learn of the passing of Coach Joe D’Alessandris this morning,” the team said in a statement. “‘Joe D.’ lived a life of boundless faith, love, devotion and inspiration. As a husband, father, grandfather, friend and coach, Joe made every person he came across truly feel like the most important person in the world.”

Born April 29, 1954, in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, D’Alessandris coached in the CFL and World League, as well as at several colleges, before making his way to the NFL. He was an assistant with the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills and San Diego Chargers before settling in with the Ravens under Harbaugh.

“Coach Joe D. was a man of integrity and faith. He made us all better,” Harbaugh said. “He was our reader at the team mass and everyone here loved him. He was a great coach and a good man, the kind of person who is an honor to have as a friend. He raised three amazing, beautiful daughters and was a very loving husband. His grandchildren adored him as well. I looked up to him, I loved him and I will miss him, because Joe D. was a joy.”

D’Alessandris played at Western Carolina and began his coaching career there as a graduate assistant in 1977. His other college coaching stops included Livingston University, Memphis, Tennessee-Chattanooga, Samford, Texas A&M, Pittsburgh, Duke and Georgia Tech.

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