How fast is football player Michael Washington?

So fast he went from high school prom date to University of Hawai'i starting wide receiver in four months.

Then again, in reloading the Warriors for this season, the coaches did not waste time checking IDs.

This season, 23 first-year Warriors have played, and seven have started, including quarterback Colt Brennan, a sophomore who transferred from Saddleback Community College in Mission Viejo, Calif..

For last week's game against Idaho, 14 newcomers were on the 60-player travel roster. A 15th, nose tackle Renolds Fruean, who started the first two games, is recovering from a sprained ankle.

"The year never bothered us," said defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville, who recalled starting four rookie linebackers in a 3-4 scheme when he was head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. "Sometimes if you're a senior, all your experiences have been bad. You're better off having no experience."

Injuries at the linebacker and receiver positions opened the way for the newcomers. "We have areas where we need speed guys," UH coach June Jones said, "and we have a lot of speed in this class."

Jones, who coordinates the four-wide offense, and Glanville have used measured steps in implementing the schemes.

"There's a pace coach Jones kind of set from day one," Brennan said. "No matter what happened, he's never veered from that pace. Now we're seeing the positives of that pace coming through. Now that it's the fourth game, the guys want to do more. If they threw everything at us right away, we would be here right now trying to slow things down instead of trying to accelerate things."

Still, Jones admitted, "you don't sleep as well at night because you know they don't know things. You wish (former receivers) Gerald (Welch) and Chad (Owens) were there."

On defense, 11 newcomers have played, and three have started. Freshman linebacker Solomon Elimimian will start again in Saturday's game against Boise State.

"The coaches are making it easier for me," Elimimian said. "They're helping me after practices, and they spend a lot of time with me watching films."

Glanville said he is not concerned about starting inexperienced players. "I'm not nervous about anything," he said. "The last time I was nervous was at a sixth-grade picnic, although I won't tell you why."

Davone Bess, the starting left slotback, said the tone was set during training camp, when newcomers and seniors were assigned the same sleeping area. "Honestly, I didn't feel like a freshman because all I did was hang around with the older players," Bess said.

Jones also warned against harassing the newcomers.

"There's no hazing or anything like that," freshman kicker Daniel Kelly said. "Coach Jones has created an atmosphere where we're a family. He's like the dad telling the older siblings not to pick on the young ones."

Most important, freshman linebacker Adam Leonard said, the coaches fulfilled their recruiting promises.

"Everybody always tells you, 'If you come to our school, you'll play right away,' " Leonard said. "Over here, if you work hard, you'll get a chance. Coach Glanville was right when he said, 'At any other institution in the nation, you wouldn't be getting this opportunity to play right away.' The coaches did a great job of paying attention to the young guys in training camp, and it carried over into the season."

Jones said: "We're not going to put someone in there just to put them in there. If they weren't doing it right on the field, they wouldn't be in there."

Linebacker Brashton Satele, receiver Antwan Mahaley, and offensive linemen Daniel Johnson, John Estes and Laupepa Letuli are among those redshirting. Defensive backs KayBrin Stevenson and Ulysses Dalton will enroll in January.

"We've got a good nucleus of young players for four or five more years," Jones said.

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.