Great Dane Nation - Episode 86: Sean Payton

On the 86th episode of “Great Dane Nation,” Morten is joined by his long-time friend and fellow New Orleans Saints legend Sean Payton (11:44 – 37:47). But before we dive into that interview, Morten is once again joined by VegasInsider’s Stephanie Otey, who will be contributing to the podcast over the next few months as the NFL offseason continues to roll along! With the NFL Draft on deck, Stephanie gives her “can’t miss prospect” of the 2022 class (02:52).

We then move to our interview with Sean Payton, where he discusses a wide range of topics:

• how does Coach Payton feel different since retiring earlier this year (12:45)
• the one thing he was looking forward to most after retiring (14:25)
• what brought him to retiring at this point in his football career (16:31)
• looking forward to finalizing his TV contract – to be a studio analyst – being signed within the next four days (19:03)
• on the Tom Brady-Dolphins rumors, and why he had no prior knowledge of any of it until The Boston Globe story was published (19:20)
• on the Dallas Cowboys rumors, and why prior history with a franchise is not the only thing he would consider before coming out of retirement for a coaching job (21:46)
• how the league can improve with minority hiring on the head coaching level, and why he thinks Stanford’s David Shaw will be given an NFL opportunity one day (24:48)
• why Dennis Allen was the right hire for the Saints (26:54)
• the state of the New Orleans Saints ahead of the NFL Draft, and why he thinks they have the culture to be a winning franchise right now (27:45)
• which positions the Saints will be targeting in this year’s NFL Draft (29:16)
• what his draft philosophy is – need vs. grade, and finding the balance between the two (31:11)
• and high praise for Deonte Harris (33:20)

We close things out with “Quiz Time with TommyFreezePops,” with this week’s topic being, of course, the NFL Draft (39:34). Which host knows more about the NFL Draft? Who will have to pay off a punishment on our next episode? Both answers to those questions may surprise you.