Michael Kaplan

What's the difference between the 5-2-1 @Giants and the 2-7 @nyjets? John Harbaugh. It's that simple. The overall rosters are pretty close. Bum Phillips used to say of Don Shula: "He can take his'n and beat your'n and take your'n and beat his'n." There's no doubt the Jets would be in playoff contention if they had Harbaugh. That's why Jets need to put full court press on Mike Tomlin assuming Aaron Glenn is fired after the season. Tomlin will immediately change the culture just as Harbaugh has done with the Giants. Three key issues: 1. Does Tomlin have the desire to coach again? He seems to love working for NBC. 2. If he wants to coach, will he work for Woody Johnson? Harbaugh, Andy Reid and Sean Payton are each making $20 million a year, the most in the four major sports. Woody should offer Tomlin $25 million-$30 million a year. Johnson can afford it. He bought the Jets for $635 million in 2000 and they are now valued at $10.35 billion. Also give Tomlin final say on personnel. 3. Tomlin must hire a state-of-the-art offensive coordinator to work with the QB the Jets will take in the first round in April.