PLANNING FOR PORTER: It's not hard to imagine that coach Tony Sparano is brainstorming how he can use Joey Porter, above, and Jason Taylor together.

If someone asked you about the Wildcat's beginnings, would you know the answer?

You might think back to last year's Patriots game, when the Dolphins first introduced the NFL to its new offense. Or the team's plane ride home from Arizona a week earlier, when coach Tony Sparano told assistant David Lee it was time to pull it out.

But the development of the Wildcat, or any number of other innovative decisions made by this coaching staff in the past 1 ½ years, isn't nearly as romantic.

``There's constant closed-door meetings about these things,'' Sparano said Friday.

About the Wildcat. About Matt Roth's transition from defensive end to strong-side linebacker. About whether to use Jason Allen at cornerback or safety. Those were all decisions made during last year's training camp.

The point is, preparations for the upcoming season aren't just taking place during those hours when players are sweating under the sun. Instead, training camp is also a critical time inside the walls of the team's facility.

As much as the preparations on the field, Miami's preparations inside the building might be molding the potential identity of this team.

``It's a little bit of brainstorming, more or less,'' Sparano said. ``It would be me going in there and throwing in a little fly in the ointment here and saying, `What about this, what about that?'

``Anything that we are thinking of on either side of the ball goes through me.''

During his first season as a head coach, Sparano was one vote shy of being named the NFL's Coach of the Year. Although most of that might have been the result of his success with the Wildcat, it has been his general ability to think outside the box that also helped.

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

If Sparano wants repeated success, his craftiness must continue. It's begs to wonder: What's going on behind Sparano's doors these days? Here's three examples of what the staff has been working on during those closed-door meetings:

• How can Miami best benefit from having Jason Taylor and Joey Porter on the field at the same time? The Dolphins have been experimenting with Taylor on the strong side instead of his old home on the weak side. That's a decision that was made during one of those meetings, which includes Sparano and defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni.

• How will the Dolphins utilize quarterback Pat White? Like the Wildcat last year, this decision will likely allow for the most innovative brainstorming, and it probably won't be installed until the team conducts seven practices later in the preseason that will be closed to both media and the public. Offensive coordinator Dan Henning is in Sparano's office for those meetings.

• How can Miami get more from wide receiver Ernest Wilford? Much like Miami's decision to move Allen to cornerback at the end of training camp last year, Sparano is now trying to find a way to get more out of Wilford. As a result, Wilford has been also seeing time as an H-back and at tight end.

Sparano said the most important meetings typically occur at the start of camp, like now. That's because he wants to be able to devote the proper time to a specific project without also cutting it too close to the start of the season if it doesn't work out.

That's why Sparano believes the Roth project worked last year.

``We had to commit a week's worth of time to that project and put him in the game and let him play or else we are not going to have an idea whether or not this will be good or bad,'' Sparano said. ``We can't just put our toe in the water on it.''

SPARANO'S VISION

Once the team makes a decision during those meetings, Sparano typically will call the appropriate player into his office for another kind of meeting. Wilford, for instance, said he has had multiple sit-downs to discuss his latest transition.

``He has a vision, and it's our goal to execute his vision,'' Wilford said. ``He's one of those guys who always knows what he wants.''

So next time you think about the beginnings of the Wildcat, next time you wonder how Taylor and Porter will co-exist, don't simply think about what might be happening on the practice field.

Instead, envision Sparano seated behind his desk, brainstorming for what he has in store for this season.