The Dolphins might not be doing as much in the

   CHARLOTTE – For years, Dan Henning was hammered by Carolina Panthers fans for being far too conservative in his play calling.
   Well, look at him now.
   Henning runs one of the most difficult offensive schemes to defend in the NFL as offensive coordinator of the Miami Dolphins, despite lacking terrific offensive personnel outside of star running backs Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams.
   The Dolphins have so many gimmicks now it’s hard to keep up with them all, but it’s not unusual for Henning to line up a running back at quarterback and run a double reverse before having a wide receiver throwing deep to his quarterback, who was initially lined up as a receiver. Huh? Yeah, that’s exactly what a lot of defense are left thinking.

   To put things in perspective, Brown has thrown six passes this season -- although he will not play Thursday night due to an ankle injury.
   So what happened, did Henning undergo a metamorphosis after getting fired by the Panthers after the 2006 season and sitting out a year?
   Hardly.
   The reality is Henning has a brilliant football mind, but his hands were a bit tied when it came to his creativeness in play calling since everything had to go through conservative coach John Fox. How often has Fox allowed his coaches to call a double reverse pass?
   That’s something that isn’t an issue for Henning in Miami.
   When Dolphins vice president of football operations Bill Parcells asked Henning to come out of retirement last year, he gave him full control of play calling. And while Dolphins coach Tony Sparano admits he’ll lend some input during the week, he basically stays out of Henning’s ever- thinning white hair on game day.
   “I have all the trust in the world in Dan on game day to let him do his thing,” Sparano said. “One of the things I learned as a play caller is the head coach getting in the way sometimes or too many chefs in the kitchen, so to speak, that can be a problem. I like to stay out of the way of Dan as much as possible.”
   Henning wasn’t available to be interviewed this week, but his body of work speaks for itself.
   One of his go-to plays has become the “Wildcat” in which Brown or Williams lines up at quarterback for a direct snap.
   It’s something Henning used here in Carolina back in December of 2006 in a game against Atlanta. With Jake Delhomme injured and backup Chris Weinke barely able to throw the ball, the Panthers lined up DeAngelo Williams at quarterback. He took about a dozen direct snaps and ran into the line, repeatedly picking up first downs. It wasn’t pretty, but the Panthers won the game 10-3.
   The Panthers ran it a few more times the following week in the season finale against New Orleans and won again to finish 8-8, but Henning was fired a few weeks later, made to look the scapegoat for, truth be told, a struggling offense that was riddled with injuries.
   When Henning returned to coach the Dolphins last year, he teamed with quarterbacks coach David Lee and began working on making the Wildcat a fixture in the team’s offense.
   The Dolphins unveiled it early last season in a Week 3 game against rival New England. When Brown lined up at quarterback, the Patriots were confused and Brown wound up running for three touchdowns and throwing for another in a 38-13 rout of the Patriots at Gillette Stadium.
   Afterward, New England defensive lineman Vince Wolfolk said, "It was shocking. We really didn't know what they were doing."
   From then on the Wildcat has become a mainstay of the Dolphins offense and has advanced into some plays that look like they’re drawn up on a playground.
   “Dan is a heck of a football coach,” said Delhomme, who keeps in touch with the guy who helped put him on the NFL map in 2003.
   “Sometimes things happen. I think John has a ton of respect for Dan as a coach… He's a good football coach, a very smart man. Certainly, I do miss him, but that's coaching. Sometimes things just don't mesh at certain times, but that's coaching.”
   When asked if he’s surprised by the offense Henning now leads, Delhomme said, “I think it's personnel. I keep saying, it's good plays, but they have to be executed correctly.”
   Looking back, Sparano is amazed at what the Wildcat has grown into in Miami, as well as around the league.
   Even the Panthers have run it on occasion this season after not doing so their previous two seasons under Henning’s replacement Jeff Davidson.
   “I wasn’t sure if it would last one play at the time,” Sparano laughed when thinking back to his team’s Wildcat debut. “We rolled it out there against New England and you kind of had your fingers crossed that it was going to be just the right alignment and you were going to get to see what you wanted to see. But the thing has taken on a life of its own right now in this league. It’s interesting. Everybody looks at each other’s stuff and it’s interesting to see some of the people running it.”
   The good news for the Panthers is the Dolphins will be without Brown, who sprained an ankle in Sunday’s win over Tampa Bay. Although Williams has run out of the Wildcat formation, Brown is the guy the offense revolves around. “We have to go in in some situations with the thought of not being in it as much or if any at all,” Sparano admitted. “Ricky has been back there and handled some of those situations, but some of younger players have not.”
   Still, defensive tackle Damione Lewis isn’t buying into it.
   He said Tuesday after practice he planned to go home and watch game film of the Dolphins until about 11 p.m. because there are so many things to prepare for and having a short week to do so makes it even more difficult.
   “Since their offense is not very conventional it’s tough to prepare for,” Lewis said. “It’s looks that we won’t see again all year. It’s going to be a lot of film study. Guys are going to have to go the extra mile to get a feel for them… They have so many different things they do out of the Wildcat it’s going to be a long week of film study.”