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| What Happened to Lorenzo Dalle Piagge? Inside His Life After Retiring From American Football. |
Lorenzo Dalle Piagge may have retired from playing American football in 2024, but calling it the end of his sporting career would be rather misleading. The former Italian national team player has simply swapped the kit for a coaching role, while continuing to build his fitness career and appear on Netflix’s Physical 100: Italy. He was introduced to viewers in the first season wearing his team jersey, an obvious nod to the sport that shaped much of his adult life. True to form, Lorenzo approached the competition with the same competitive attitude that had followed him throughout his playing days.
His route into American football began in Pisa in 2010, when he joined the youth side Storms Pisa. It did not take long for things to move quickly. A year later, he was already competing in the FIDAF III Division championship, while his performances also earned him a place in the Italian Under-19 national team. Lorenzo studied at the University of Pisa from 2013 and graduated in 2016, managing to fit university life around a sporting career that was becoming increasingly serious.
His progress with the national side brought another major achievement in 2016, when Italy won the IFAF European qualifying tournament. Around the same period, Lorenzo played in the FIDAF I Division championship after joining Panthers Parma, before moving to Seamen Milano in 2017. His three-year spell with the Milan club produced one of the biggest achievements of his playing career, with the team winning the national championship in the top division.
Then came an opportunity that could have taken his career in a completely different direction. In January 2020, Lorenzo became the only Italian selected for the Canadian Football League Global Combine, held in Toronto. It was a significant moment for an Italian player hoping to test himself on a much larger stage. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic brought the event to a halt, proving once again that sporting careers can be derailed by circumstances that have absolutely nothing to do with what happens on the field.
Lorenzo eventually had another opportunity through the CFL Global Draft in April 2021, although he was not selected. There was still plenty to celebrate at home. That same year, he remained part of the Italian national team as it won a European title, while he also joined Guelfi Firenze.
His time with the Florence-based club ended with another major success, as Guelfi Firenze won the FIDAF I Division championship in 2022. By the time Lorenzo retired in 2024, he had been part of four Italian championship-winning teams, giving him a fairly substantial collection of medals to show for all those years of training, travelling and presumably questioning why anyone thought sport was supposed to be relaxing.
Retirement, however, did not mean Lorenzo suddenly decided to become a professional sofa enthusiast. Instead, he moved into coaching and took on the role of Defensive Line Coach for the Italian national team in 2024. His new position kept him closely connected to the sport while allowing him to pass on the experience accumulated during his playing career. Under his coaching chapter, Italy reached the European Championship Final in September 2024, giving Lorenzo another opportunity to contribute without having to put himself through the physical demands of playing.
Outside the national team, Lorenzo has also developed a career in the fitness industry. He is co-owner and Expert Coach at LIFT, a training centre where his experience as an elite-level athlete fits rather neatly into the job description.
His online presence has grown alongside that work, with his Instagram and Facebook accounts attracting thousands of followers. Rather than turning his social media into a polished catalogue of carefully staged motivational quotes, Lorenzo regularly shares training content, fitness advice and snippets from his professional life, making it clear that the gym remains very much part of his daily routine.
That online work has also given him room to explore different projects. In May 2026, Lorenzo appeared alongside fellow coach Michelangelo Manganello in the newly launched LIFT Show, where the pair discussed their experiences and approaches to fitness.
A month later, Lorenzo promoted an OL/DL Camp, offering aspiring American football players a chance to work on their skills through a limited-capacity training programme. By July, he was celebrating players who had won the American Football Championship and later shared that LIFT was looking for motivated people to join its staff. So, apparently, retirement means more jobs, more coaching and even more reasons to spend time around weights.
Lorenzo's life away from training is considerably less focused on competition, although he still seems to have difficulty sitting completely still. He has developed close friendships through his work at LIFT and often shares playful training clips with colleagues, showing a lighter side of the environment behind the serious workouts.
When he gets away from the gym, the beach is one of his favourite places, whether that means swimming, enjoying the sunshine or simply listening to the sea. After spending years surrounded by training schedules and competitions, that sounds like a reasonably sensible way to switch off.
He also enjoys getting outdoors, particularly trips involving mountains, hiking and discovering different landscapes. His interests include exploring abandoned buildings, camping in camper vans and occasionally subjecting himself to ice baths, because apparently normal relaxation was not extreme enough.
He also spends time with his brothers and cousins and enjoys discovering food and visiting restaurants. One particularly important companion in his life is his cat, who appears to have secured the enviable position of being Lorenzo's regular cuddle partner. Some people retire and buy a comfortable chair; Lorenzo apparently prefers mountains, cold water, camping and a cat.
There is something genuinely interesting about Lorenzo's post-playing career because retirement has not really taken him away from American football at all. Instead, it has changed the way he participates in it. Going from national-team player to defensive-line coach gives his experience a useful second life, while his work at LIFT allows him to remain involved in performance and fitness.
Add Netflix exposure, social media content, training camps and a lifestyle that appears to involve considerably more adventure than the average former athlete, and he seems to have avoided the classic post-retirement problem of wondering what to do next.
My take is that Lorenzo's story works because it feels less like a dramatic reinvention and more like a natural continuation. He spent years building himself as an American football player, so becoming a coach and fitness professional makes far more sense than suddenly deciding to become, say, a professional pastry critic.
The most impressive part is arguably the consistency: the competitive mindset remains, but the role has changed. His Netflix appearance has introduced him to an audience that may never have followed Italian American football, while his work at LIFT gives him something more substantial to pursue beyond television.
The outdoor adventures and cat-filled downtime also make him feel less like a permanently switched-on fitness machine and more like an actual person who occasionally remembers there is life outside a training centre. After four championship-winning campaigns, a national-team career and an international opportunity, he has plenty of reasons to be proud. More importantly, he seems to have found a way to keep moving without simply repeating the same chapter.
For now, Lorenzo Dalle Piagge is firmly still in the world of sport, just from a different position. His playing days ended in 2024, but coaching, fitness and content creation have kept him busy, while Physical 100: Italy has given viewers another look at the personality behind the athlete.
Between national-team duties, LIFT, training projects, outdoor adventures and an apparently very well-loved cat, there is hardly a shortage of things keeping him occupied. If you watched Lorenzo on Physical 100: Italy, what did you make of his performance and his competitive attitude? And does his life after professional football surprise you, or does coaching and fitness seem like the obvious next step?