"It's become a mini event," Belichick said of training camp, which officially begins for the Patriots tomorrow.
Of course, Belichick has no plans to get caught up in any such hoopla as he prepares the Patriots for a much-anticipated 2007 season. The atmosphere at camp might have changed over time, but Belichick's approach hasn't.
That's why he's already shifted into another gear, reminding players that while offseason camps were geared toward teaching, training camp is focused more on competition.
"There are always a lot of questions to be answered," he said. "At this point I think we've done the best things we could with the opportunities we had, and now is the time to go out and start playing, time to see the product on the field. We saw some of it at minicamp and that was good."
But what Belichick didn't see in June was a crucial piece toward preparing any football team: contact.
"Ultimately you need that to complete the circle," he said.
In recent years, Belichick has operated with a schedule that included a full-pads practice once every three workouts. The pad-crunching session has usually been reserved for the day when there are two practices, and is held in the morning.
"You want to make sure you get enough contact, but it's a fine line," said Belichick, who enters his eighth season with the Patriots, making him the NFL's sixth-longest-tenured coach with the same club (continuous service).
"It's important to get the team ready for the physical aspect of the game, to compete well with it, but at the same time not beat them up. It's not the same for everybody. Some of the young players need contact, while the older players don't always need it as much."
And therein lies what Belichick believes is an important part of managing a training camp: balancing the needs of a variety of players. While veterans such as linebacker Junior Seau (18th season) and receiver Troy Brown (15th season) might be OK without contact, rookies adjusting to the pace of a faster game, such as unsigned first-round draft choice Brandon Meriweather, must experience it to be successful.
