What training camp, for years, has meant to me -- whether I was a player, a scout, an assistant head coach or a head coach -- is camaraderie. How you build your football team, I believe, is in training camp. Basically, there are no distractions. It's all about football. Everyone knows his purpose and why he's going there.

It's about guys competing for their job. It's about the veteran guy saying, "I can still do this." It's about the rookie that you drafted or the rookie free agent saying, "I'm fighting for a job." You learn a lot about your football team in that environment. For that month that you're there, you're going to learn a lot about your players, you're going to learn a lot about your coaching staff.