Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez is all for freshmen enrolling early, assuming their academics are in order and they don’t mind missing spring sports or the prom.

“We tell them, ‘Yeah, if you want to do that and we have a spot, that’s terrific,’” Rodriguez said. “It certainly can accelerate their process of learning, not just athletically but academically, get a head start on that.”

Seven members of Michigan’s 2009 recruiting class enrolled last January, and five of those have seen playing time this year. Quarterback Tate Forcier is one of two true freshman starters - the other, defensive end Craig Roh, was not an early enrollee - while defensive tackle William Campbell, safety Vladimir Emilien, linebacker Brandin Hawthorne and running back Vincent Smith are contributing as backups or on special teams.

Rodriguez said Campbell, Emilien, Hawthorne, Smith and fellow freshmen Teric Jones and Je’Ron Stokes, the only other 2009 recruits to play through three games, can expect their roles to increase in the coming weeks. Several more might still see the field this year.

“You don’t want to play a guy with two or three games left in the season and burn a redshirt year if you can help it, but to be fair to this year’s team and this year’s seniors you’ve got to do all you can to have as much success this year having your whole roster,” Rodriguez said. “We told some of the freshmen, they may be on the scout team now, but a week or two or an injury or two and they may be pulled up.”

Last week, Taylor Lewan and Michael Schofield practiced some with the second team because of injuries on the offensive line. Rodriguez said cornerback J.T. Turner could find his way into the playing group as well.

Turner, the second highest-rated recruit in Michigan’s freshman class according to Rivals.com, missed the first few days of fall camp waiting on an eligibility ruling from the NCAA Clearinghouse. That set him back, but cornerback Donovan Warren said Turner’s skills are obvious.

“He has some of the longest arms I‘ve seen for a” defensive back, Warren said. “Up in press man (coverage), he can jam a receiver from three yards off. That’s just something that’s God given.”

Rodriguez said Michigan could have another "five, six or seven" early enrollees from its 2010 recruiting class.

"We've had at least that many that are interested in doing that," he said. "It certainly helps them. As a coach, that’s nice if it happens, but we don’t recruit a guy just based on that."