Ravens Hire Joe D'Alessandris As Offensive Line Coach
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The Baltimore Ravens have hired Joe D'Alessandris as the team's offensive line coach, head coach John Harbaugh announced Thursday.
"We had a number of very good, qualified candidates for this position, and we have the right fit with Joe," Harbaugh stated. "He's a hard-nosed, experienced coach, who is an excellent teacher. He'll be able to work with our veterans to get the best out of them, and he'll take our young linemen to higher levels."
D'Alessandris will enter his ninth year of coaching in the NFL, having previously worked as an assistant offensive line coach for the Kansas City Chiefs, and offensive line coach with the Buffalo Bills and the San Diego Chargers.
"I feel very privileged and honored to come work with such a tremendous organization," D'Alessandris said. "I very much look forward to the great opportunity of working for John Harbaugh and Ozzie Newsome on an incredible staff."
In D'Alessandris' first season with the Chargers in 2013, San Diego advanced to the Divisional Playoff round and allowed the NFL's fourth-fewest sacks (30, tied with Chicago). In 12 of the team's 16 regular season games that season, his offensive line helped the Chargers produce at least 100 rushing yards, including a 186-yard output in the Week 17 win vs. Kansas City that clinched a playoff berth. During his time with San Diego (from 2013-15), D'Alessandris was part of an offensive attack that produced the NFL's seventh-most yards per game (368.9).
While with the Chiefs in 2009, D'Alessandris guided G Brian Waters to his first-career Pro Bowl. That season, RB Jamaal Charles rushed for 1,120 yards (his first 1,000-yard season) and seven touchdowns. Coaching for Buffalo in 2011, D'Alessandris helped the Bills permit an NFL-low 23 sacks, a figure that marks the third fewest in team history during a 16-game season.
A native of Aliquippa, Pa., D'Alessandris attended Western Carolina University, where he earned four letters in football and started three years as a guard. Voted a team captain and MVP his senior season, D'Alessandris then graduated in 1977 and went on to earn a master's degree from WCU two years later.
While working toward his master's, he began coaching as a graduate assistant from 1977-78. Following that time, he earned his first full-time job as the offensive line coach at Livingston University in 1979.
