FOXBOROUGH — Seventeen years at the same job, and 42 years in the same industry, can probably start to get a little tedious.

Especially in the NFL, where the calendar doesn’t alter much from year to year. February — Scouting Combine. April — Organized Team Activities. August — Training camp. Rinse, repeat.

“It kind of feels like usual,’’ Bill Belichick said on Wednesday as his players reported for camp. “We’re at the bottom like everybody else in the league is, starting all over again.’’

But Belichick is showing no signs of slowing down or losing interest as he begins his 17th training camp as Patriots head coach. He’s 64 years old now, the second-oldest coach in the league, but four days into training camp it’s apparent that he still has the same passion for teaching the game and paying attention to the tiniest of details that have earned him four Super Bowl rings with the Patriots.

“He’s always hungry to find ways to give this team an edge, and I think that’s what makes him special,’’ said special teams captain Matt Slater, now in his ninth training camp under Belichick. “Anyone who’s had his type of success could’ve become complacent, but not him. He’s always looking for a little tweak here and there to make this team better.’’

The more things change in the NFL, the more Belichick stays the same. The roster is different every year, the practice rules are significantly stricter now, and the playing rules change all the time. Yet Belichick sticks to the principles that have made him a coaching legend.

He’s a teacher at heart who emphasizes roster depth and the kicking game, and it still shows. He spends as much time watching and evaluating the rookies as he does the starters, standing dispassionately behind the line of scrimmage, twirling his whistle and taking notes throughout practice. He spends even more time evaluating the kickoff and field goal units, standing almost right in the middle of the action, never flinching when a swarm of tacklers comes near him.

Belichick will take eight-year veteran safety Patrick Chung aside and give him pointers on how to fight off a receiver’s hands at the line of scrimmage. Then he’ll take rookie receiver Devin Lucien aside to show him how to deliver a proper stiff-arm, whacking him several times in the chest to make his point.

“He just loves football year-round. His reputation precedes him with that,’’ said nine-year veteran Chris Long, who is in his first training camp with Belichick and the Patriots. “I just really love that he treats everybody fair. You earn your role. And anybody who’s had that kind of longevity and that kind of track record, you’re going to listen.’’

Most notably, Belichick’s attention to detail is still impeccable. In just three days of training camp, we’ve seen Belichick squirt the field goal holder with water while preparing to receive a snap, and we’ve seen the Patriots’ offensive and defensive linemen practicing how to scoop squib kicks on kickoffs. How often will Marcus Cannon have to handle the football on a kickoff? Maybe never. Then again, ask Dan Connolly if he was prepared when the opportunity came his way against the Packers in 2010.

“There are some times that are like, ‘Man, how is this going to show up?’ ’’ Slater said. “But then it will come up in the game, a situation that we thought we’d never see, and we were like, ‘Man, we actually practiced that.’ You can’t really question his methods, because they’re proven, time and time again.’’

The “Belichick Way’’ has been an eye-opening experience for new defensive tackle Terrance Knighton, now playing for his fourth team and fifth head coach in eight NFL seasons.

“More than impressed. You understand why this team has been so successful and has been the most consistent team in the last decade or two,’’ Knighton said in the spring. He added recently to NFL.com, “Everyone is on the same page. As soon as you come in the building, everything stops besides football . . . You don’t see guys on their phones. You don’t see guys messing around. It’s all business, and I think unlike anywhere I’ve been, the focus of the players, the coaches and the locker room is just on another level.’’

But the “Belichick Way’’ is also successful because the coach embraces change. He befriends college coaches such as Urban Meyer and Chip Kelly to learn about schematic innovations at the college level. He embraces analytics, sports science, and improvements in training and performance.

Even after 42 years and six Super Bowl rings (don’t forget about the two as an assistant coach with the Giants), Belichick is smart enough and devoid of ego enough to know what he doesn’t know, and to constantly seek improvement.

“I tell you what Bill does better than anybody I’ve ever been around — he grows with time,’’ said running backs coach Ivan Fears, a football coach for 41 years, including the last 18 with the Patriots. “He’s as old school as anybody is, but I guarantee you he is up to date on every new thing out there: Technology when it comes to the sport, techniques, anything that’s going on, he does a great job keeping up.

“For a guy that’s as hard-nosed, old school of a coach as he is, you’ll find that he’s also very progressive in the things he does. His knowledge of the game and the things he wants to implement, how he keeps up with the young guys, that’s what makes him unique. That’s how we’re able to change every year and keep us moving forward.’’

The training camps might be a little tedious. The years probably start to blend together a bit. But building a football team and winning championships still hasn’t gotten old for Belichick, who knows that there are no shortcuts to achieving his goals.

Ben Volin can be reached at ben.volin@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @BenVolin