(The Rock Report) – For the last two years Notre Dame has fielded some of the youngest teams in college football. In 2009-2010, Notre Dame will put one of the most experienced teams on the field in the college football… on the offensive line (where Notre Dame returns the 9th most starts in the country.)

But surprisingly overall, compared the rest of the country, the Irish will still be a fairly young team.

In Phil Steele’s “Experience Chart”, which looks mostly at age, has Notre Dame ranked 112th in the country, below everyone on the schedule except for Michigan. FYI, Pittsburgh is 10th in the country.

EDIT: But his new experience chart, released today, which combines age, experience, and returning yards, etc. puts the Irish at 19, behind only Washington and Stanford on the schedule. Steele has used experience as a key indicator that flies under the radar of most analysts. Says Steele (sound familiar?):

“A player gains valuable experience for every year he plays and becomes a better player because of it. Players also mature physically while they are in college and there is a big difference between a raw 17 or 18 year old true Freshman and a mature and physically stronger 22 year old Senior. Some teams that send their players away on missions like BYU, routinely have Seniors up to 25 years old. There is also a coaching adage that for every Freshman starter you have, you lose one game.”

The Irish also ranked 91st in the country in number of returning letter men and 67th in percentage of returning tackles on the defense.

It’s on offense where the Irish show a big advantage, with the Irish ranked 6th in number of yards returning in 2009.

EDIT: Looking at age of starters it looks like Weis will pay the price for so many misses in this senior class, which now appears over rated. The talent surge is in the Junior and Sophomore classes and those classes return in 2009 with playing time. Expect the Irish to rank near the top in the country across the board in 2010.