The Baltimore Ravens have announced Sunday afternoon that offensive line coach Joe D'Allesandris passed away at the age of 70 years old. D'Allesandris was hospitalized on August 14 which the Ravens put out a statement saying that it was “for an acute illness.”

D'Alessandris had been coaching since 1977 as a graduate assistant for West Virginia, but made his way to the NFL in 2008 with the Kansas City Chiefs as an assistant offensive line coach. He would join the Ravens in 2017 where ever since he was the position coach.

Besides the post on their X, formerly Twitter, account, they also had several statements from the team themselves, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, general manager Eric DeCosta, and President Sashi Brown. The official statement from the team expressed how much D'Allesandris had the knack of making everybody he met “truly feel like they were the most important person in the world.”

“Our hearts ache with grief and sadness upon learning of Coach Joe D'Alessandris' passing early this morning,” the statement said. “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. He had the amazingly rare ability to connect with people in a way that deepened respect, empathy and kindness – further spreading those important virtues into the everyday life of the world.”

Ravens coach John Harbaugh, GM Eric DeCosta on Joe D'Allesandris 

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Harbaugh has been the head coach for the Ravens since 2008 so he was the main reason why D'Allesandris was on staff in 2017 and there is no wonder why he hired him as the offensive line coach. Besides his ability to coach up players and make a great unit like he's done many times, it starts with how “he made us all better” per Harbaugh.

“Coach ‘Joe D.' was a man of integrity and a man of faith. He made us all better, he was our reader at team mass, and he was loved by all here,” Harbaugh said Sunday. “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.”

As for DeCosta who has been with Baltimore since 1996 as a Player Personnel Assistant and now as general manager, he would look back at his time with D'Allesandris and mentioned how he will “treasure my conversations with him.”

“Today is a sad day, ‘Joe D.' was a rock, a great coach and a better person,” DeCosta said on Joe D'Allesandris. “He cared about the team deeply, exhibiting a relentless passion to excel while displaying genuine love for his players. 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.”