George Warhop wouldn’t call Joe D’Alessandris a close friend, but they sure were “good acquaintances,” as Warhop put it. The pair of veteran offensive line coaches spoke often over their careers to exchange information, ask football questions or just to catch up.

The Ravens hired Warhop last month after D’Alessandris was hospitalized with what the team called “an acute illness” stemming from a surgery earlier in the summer. And when D’Alessandris died Aug. 25 at 70 years old, Warhop was thrust into an unprecedented situation.

Warhop is still learning how to lead a unit shaped by a beloved former coach and live up to his established expectations. Warhop is starting to put his personal touch on the job just a few weeks into his tenure. But he’s still intentional about honoring the impact D’Alessandris left.

“What happened here was tragic,” Warhop said. “The fact that John trusted me enough to call me, I’m impressed with that and grateful for that. But the situation I walked into, what Joe had done here, made it very, very easy.”

Bits of what made D’Alessandris so adored have remained in the Ravens’ offensive line meetings. Warhop starts each one by asking players about their lives outside of football — families, girlfriends and any other happenings on their mind. That was a staple of D’Alessandris’ time.

While most of Warhop’s role is developing young players and scheming and strategizing for the offensive line’s upcoming opponents, part of it has also been making himself available for any grieving player.

“Anybody’s that’s dealt with death, and I’ve dealt with it in my family, everybody grieves differently,” Warhop said. “You just gotta make yourself available to them when they’re grieving. Grief is different for every person.”

“He made it real clear when he first came in that he’s gonna coach us hard, but he’s also gonna be one of our really good friends off the field,” rookie right tackle Roger Rosengarten said.Warhop has led NFL offensive lines since the 1990s, most recently with the Texans in 2022 after three seasons as the Jacksonville Jaguars’ offensive line coach. Baltimore is his ninth NFL stop.

He has some familiarity with the Ravens’ offense, having worked with coordinator Todd Monken with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2016 to 2018 in addition to his previous relationship with D’Alessandris. Those ties made Warhop an obvious choice for coach John Harbaugh when a spot on his staff opened.

“The group is well trained. They’re very smart. They work their tails off,” Warhop said. “That’s what [D’Alessandris] did before I got here. That’s what he built as a foundation.”

Rosengarten didn’t experience much of that foundation but still feels it prepared him for what turned into a heartbreaking rookie summer. His first interaction with D’Alessandris came in a meeting room with protections and assignments already drawn on a whiteboard. That was Rosengarten’s first taste of D’Alessandris’ character, which he said Warhop has matched.

Operating similarly to D’Alessandris was a focus for Warhop when he joined the staff with just a few weeks to go before the regular season. He achieved that, but is now inserting his philosophies as he acclimates himself.

Warhop’s unit was uneven in the Ravens’ 27-20 season-opening loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Quarterback Lamar Jackson was strip-sacked after Rosengarten missed a block on his first career snap and was chased from the pocket often, but the offensive line also helped pave the way for 185 rushing yards.

“He’s done a really good job of bringing his ways of teaching things and integrating it with Joe D’s ways of teaching things,” Rosengarten said. “It’s been a really smooth transition.”

But foremost to any instruction, Warhop is a friend. Football, as the Ravens have learned over the past month, is secondary.