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NEW ORLEANS — Three days after Sean Payton announced that he will be stepping away from the New Orleans Saints, general manager Mickey Loomis addressed the head coaching search.

When asked about the search Loomis says, “I wouldn’t say that I have some drop-dead date. Obviously, you want to move this process around as quickly as possible, but it’s more important to get it right than it is to be quick. You know, we’re going to be diligent about that.”

The team reportedly requested interviews with 4 head coaching candidates including defensive coordinator Dennis Allen.

Loomis says the thing about the head coaching position in New Orleans is that it is a lot more attractive a job now than it was before Sean Payton arrived 16 years ago.

“There was not anybody ringing my phone 16 years ago. I was having to ring theirs and it wasn’t always positive when I did get a hold of someone 16 years ago. We’ve had a lot of outreach, a lot of people interested in coming to New Orleans and, yeah, it’s completely different in terms of how we’re perceived,” says Loomis.

The next time we are expected to hear from Saints general manager Mickey Loomis is next week at Reese’s Senior Bowl practices in Mobile, Ala.