New England coach Bill Belichick clearly wanted to get a first-hand look at linebacker Zach Cunningham

Adam Butler tried not to think about it.

He is the first to admit, though, that sometimes he thinks too much.

“Oh my gosh,” said Butler, a former Vanderbilt football standout. “I mean, arguably the greatest coach in the history of the NFL [is here] and I freaking messed up the drill. I couldn’t believe it.”

He was talking, of course, about Bill Belichick. Among the roughly 60 scouts, coaches and personnel people from 26 NFL teams who attended Vanderbilt’s pro day Thursday, the New England Patriots head coach was a conspicuous presence.

That group got a look at 11 former Commodores, including Butler, a defensive lineman whose misstep came on the first rep of bag drills. The majority of that group won’t get drafted.

One, All-American linebacker Zach Cunningham, certainly will and it was clear that was whom Belichick wanted to see. While he stood nearby as most of the professional hopefuls performed position drills led by NFL assistant coaches, the man who has won five Super Bowls as a head coach and a couple more as a defensive coordinator kept a sharp eye on Cunningham. He even pulled aside the potential first-round pick and personally put him through a couple more “hard drills” after the scheduled linebacker period. Belichick and Cunningham also had a private meeting Wednesday.

“We had a film session,” Cunningham said. “Just being in the same room as a guy that I watched growing up and him asking me questions about our defense and all that was definitely a crazy experience for me.”

It was hard enough for most of the rest to be under the same roof with the man at the team’s indoor practice facility and try to make a good impression.

“Whenever you have a coach of that stature out here, it just heightens it a little more,” tackle Will Holden said. “But you just sink back down to your training. You just continue to do what you’ve always done. It’s cool to look over and see him there but you just have to keep doing what you know to do.”

Or you do better when you mess up, as Butler did the first time through the bag drill.

“I’m a mental guy,” he said. “I just had to tell myself, ‘OK, get a grip and do it better next time.’ And you know what? I killed it the next time so hopefully that made up for my initial mistake.”