Recruiting Areas – North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri (Kansas City area), North Dakota, South Dakota
Joe D’Orazio enters his fifth season overall at Columbia in 2023. He will take over the reigns as the offensive coordinator for the 2023 season after being promoted from his position as Columbia’s Running Backs Coach and Director of Learning & Team Development, a role he held the past four years. Named to his current post in April 2018, D’Orazio began his second stint with the Lions in 2018 as he previously served as Tight Ends Coach during Al Bagnoli’s first season with the Lions in 2015.
Columbia continued to use the power and speed combination in 2022 after junior Joey Giorgi emerged as a Second Team All-Ivy League selection after posting 624 rushing yards and five touchdowns. Ryan Young, who was hampered by injuries during the first half of the season, ran for 434 yards in eight games to finish as the Lions’ third all-time rushing leader with 1,749 yards.
With a strong running back corps, that featured First Team All-Ivy League honoree Dante Miller and All-Ivy League honorable mention honoree Ryan Young, the Lions finished the 2021 season with the second-most total rushing yards in the Ivy League (1,580) and Miller racked up 814 total yards, also the second-most in the League. Columbia also collected 18 rushing touchdowns, tied for seventh-most in program history and it put the Lions third in the league.
In 2019, Columbia’s running back corps was led by four different players, each with diverse skill-sets. Ryan Young, Dante Miller, Broderick Taylor, and Marquavious Moore all saw action in the backfield.
Despite suffering injuries to over 25 key players, Columbia completed its 2018 season with a 6-4 overall and 3-4 Ivy League record. Running back was one of the hardest hit with injuries as starters Dante Miller and Lynnard Rose both missed major stretches of the season. Even with the injuries, Columbia rushed for 1,092 yards and 14 touchdowns on 367 carries. First-year Ryan Young emerged toward the end of the season as the Lions’ leading rusher with 365 yards on 98 carries and two touchdowns. Also a first-year, Miller saw action in six games and compiled 317 yards on 61 carries (5.2 average) along with an 83-yard touchdown vs. Central Connecticut State and Rose emerged as Columbia’s top multi-purpose player with 200 yards rushing and 15 catches for 104 yards and two receiving touchdowns.
During his initial year with the Columbia Football program as tight ends coach in 2015, D’Orazio oversaw a wealth of talent at the position as three different players caught passes for the Lions. Senior captain Nick Durham helped provide blocking for First Team All-Ivy League running back Cameron Molina, who led the conference in rushing during league games, while Hank Trumbull and John Hunton combined for nearly 400 yards receiving and two touchdowns.
D’Orazio rejoined Columbia’s program after working a full season with the National Football League’s Philadelphia Eagles (2016-17) as the organization’s Offensive Quality Control/Assistant Wide Receivers Coach under Head Coach Doug Pederson. The Eagles went on to win the 2018 Super Bowl. While with the Eagles, D’Orazio assisted the wide receivers coach at all meetings and individual drills and prepared and ran the offensive scout team.
D’Orazio also has previous experience with the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs as Senior Assistant to Head Coach Andy Reid (2013-15), University of Utah as its Defensive Graduate Assistant Coach (2012-13), and at the University of Chicago as Tight Ends Coach (2011-12). He also spent the summer of 2010 as a training camp operations intern with the Philadelphia Eagles.
A 2011 graduate of The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, D’Orazio earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and lettered four years on the football team for Bagnoli. A two-time First Team All-Ivy League selection, three-year starter and consensus preseason All-America selection as the Quakers’ center, D’Orazio served as team captain as a senior in 2010 and helped lead the Quakers to back-to-back Ivy League championships in 2009 and 2010.
The Bryn Mawr, Pennslyvania, native, D’Orazio attended St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia. He was named to the Philadelphia City All-Star team and the Pennsylvania East-West All-Star team as a senior.
THE JOE D’ORAZIO FILE
Birthdate: October 27, 1988
Hometown: Bryn Mawr, Pa.
Education
Bachelor of Science, Economics, The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, 2011.
Coaching Career
Offensive Coordinator, Columbia University, 2023-Present
Running Backs Coach, Columbia University, 2018-2023
Offensive Quality Control/Assistant Wide Receivers Coach, Philadelphia Eagles, 2016-17
Tight Ends Coach, Columbia University, 2015
Senior Assistant to the Head Coach, Kansas City Chiefs, 2013-15
Defensive Graduate Assistant Coach, University of Utah, 2012-13
Tight Ends Coach, University of Chicago, 2011-12
Training Camp Operations Intern, Philadelphia Eagles, 2010
Playing Career
Three-year starting center at Penn from 2008-11 … Two-time First Team All-Ivy League selection … Consensus preseason All-America selection in 2010 … Team captain as a senior … Led the Quakers to back-to-back Ivy League Championships in 2009 and 2010.
