Bill Belichick has been an NFL coach for 31 straight years now, more than half of his 54 years on the planet.

He has coached in 525 NFL games, including playoffs.

When Belichick takes the sideline in the third week of this season, he'll surpass Mike Holovak (1961-68) as the Patriots' leader in games coached, with 110.

He's not a kid anymore.

"It hits me every once in a while," Belichick said earlier this week when asked how it felt to be the longest-tenured coach in the NFL. "Part of what I feel is pride. This is not the easiest business in the world to have a long career in. Part of it is a recognition that I'm getting older. I'm not going to do this forever. But as long as I enjoy it and feel good about the situation -- which I do -- I will keep coaching. I don't think about (retiring) or moving on."

Today, the Patriots open their seventh training camp under Belichick. It's the fourth time under him that the team hasn't hit the field in July as defending Super Bowl champion (nobody was predicting that when he took over in 2000). But facts like those and the 525 games don't generally register with him. Reflecting isn't something he's against. It's just something he doesn't do.

When one aspect of the football season ends, it's on to the next.

"I find it all exciting," he said. "I really enjoy all the different phases. The team-building and teaching of basics to the more sophisticated strategy and decisions and all the preparation that comes in between are part of the process I enjoy.

"The coaching, meetings, strategy, films, the mental aspect of coaching the game and being able to see plays situationally -- just the way it all comes together for me -- is exciting," he said. "I've never thought, 'I'm glad this is over with because I don't like doing it.' The only time I'm glad to end something is because then you're on to the next thing. I'm often happy when the draft is over, not because I don't like it, but because a lot becomes regurgitation. You go through so many scenarios with the draft and mental gymnastics and then you make your picks and finally realize these are the guys we got and you start working with them."

With the 2006 draft done and the early stages of team-building finished, the next step is finding out if the Patriots are on the right track.

Despite shaky depth at linebacker, uncertainty at wide receiver, a new kicker to choose and key players on their way back from injury, Belichick feels the Patriots have fewer questions heading into this camp than they did in 2005.

And he knows he's got time to get those answered.

"You guys will probably have charts and graphs of every field-goal attempt on the first day of camp," he cracked. "You can't even begin to evaluate that stuff this early."

Not wanting to get into specifics on players too soon (including the holdout of wide receiver Deion Branch), Belichick would only offer this when asked the main difference between this year's team and last year's.

"We wanted to get faster," he said.

Will they be? Time will tell. After 31 training camps, the old coach knows that even speed can't be rushed.

tcurran@projo.com / (401) 277-7340

Leader of the pack

Bill Belichick is heading into his seventh season as Patriots coach, second only to Mike Holovak in franchise history. He has already, however, coached more regular-season and postseason games (110) than Holovak (109). The longest-serving Patriots coaches:

Regular season Playoffs

Coach Seasons Years W L T W L

Bill Belichick 7 2000-06 63 33 0 10 1

Mike Holovak 7 1/2 1961-68 52 46 9 1 1

Chuck Fairbanks 6 1973-78 46 39 0 0 2

Raymond Berry 5 1/2 1984-89 48 39 0 3 2

Bill Parcells 4 1993-96 34 34 0 2 2

SOURCE: New England Patriots