Coach Pat Fitzgerald has built a reputation for not playing true freshmen.

But with the arrival of Northwestern’s most highly touted recruiting class, this season is different. Five freshmen have earned playing time, compared to only eight during Fitzgerald’s first four years as head coach.

“It’s a very talented class and those guys are showing up and making plays,” Fitzgerald said.

His decision to break away from the habit of redshirting says as much about the progress of the NU football program as it does about his evolution as a coach.

It’s not that Fitzgerald wasn’t trying to be competitive from the start, but there was definitely an extra emphasis on player development during his first few years at the helm.

That decision paid off as the Wildcats’ win total increased in each of his first three seasons. After three years of bowl eligibility, two heartbreaking overtime bowl games losses and the “Chicago’s team” marketing campaign, there is now the expectation that NU will secure a postseason berth.

When asked after the Minnesota game about his decision to burn running back Adonis Smith’s redshirt, Fitzgerald said, “We’re playing to win, buddy. Period. End of discussion.”

Smith was not the only freshman to make his debut against the Golden Gophers. In what Fitzgerald compared to hitting a home run in a first at-bat, Tony Jones’ first collegiate catch was a 45-yard touchdown pass from Dan Persa on NU’s opening drive.

That play-action pass to a wide open Jones was drawn up before the game, even though he had only been back at practice for a week.

“I’m just very grateful for the opportunity, especially after being out for six weeks, for them to still have that amount of confidence in me and still put me on the field,” Jones said.

Smith and Jones not redshirting after being on the shelf with injuries is a testament to Fitzgerald and his coaching staff’s ability to recruit talent that is ready to contribute right away.

Three of the freshmen making an immediate impact are wide receivers – a position that lost most of its 2009 production.

“This year there were some holes where we lost a lot of guys to graduation a year ago in the wide receiver role,” wide receivers coach Kevin Johns said. “So we’ve needed some guys to step up.”

Fitzgerald has repeatedly praised Venric Mark, one of those speedy freshmen wide outs, for his contributions on special teams. It should only be a matter of time until he becomes the Cats’ featured punt returner.

“We trust their judgment,” Mark said of his coaches. “They’re going to put us on the field if they think we can better help the team. It’s not just about ourselves.”

Before his 2006 promotion, Fitzgerald was the team’s recruiting coordinator and had the reputation for being a strong recruiter. If you ask most members of the team about why they chose NU, many of their answers will involve Fitzgerald.

Now, with a solid foundation, he’s finally giving some of the newcomers a chance to compete right away.

I’m just not going to be the one to ask if this win-now mentality has anything to do with not playing Ohio State or Michigan, aka Denard Robinson.

Justin Schecker is a Medill junior. He can be reached at [email protected].