Chuck Martin undertook a full rebuilding process when he took over the Miami (Ohio) program after the 2013 season.

With just eight seniors and seven juniors on their roster, it’s safe to say the RedHawks are still deep in the rebuild.

“I’ve got 70 first-, second- and third-year guys,” Martin said Thursday at Mid-American Conference Media Day in Detroit. “We were one of the youngest teams in the country last year and we’re even younger this year. But that’s what we want.”

Miami’s youngsters took a beating last year in Houchens-Smith Stadium. Western Kentucky threw for 464 passing yards in a 56-14 rout of Martin’s RedHawks on Sept. 26.

Miami lost eight straight games between Sept. 12 and Oct. 29 and finished the year 3-9 – a slight improvement over a 2-10 mark in 2014, Martin’s first year.

The former Notre Dame offensive coordinator Martin opted to go with a youth movement after inheriting a program that went 0-12 under former coach Don Treadwell.

The program’s taken its lumps during the process as young players have gotten the majority of snaps. Twenty-nine freshmen saw playing time at some point in 2015, Martin said.

But the RedHawks finished last year’s campaign with wins in two of their final three games. Now Martin said he sees positive momentum for Miami, which will host WKU on Sept. 17 at Yager Stadium in Oxford, Ohio.

“It was invaluable for our future to have all those young kids play,” Martin said. “Was it fun all the time last year? At times it was fun, at times it wasn’t as fun.

“But as you look at the offseason and we’re talking about our board and our roster, a lot of these kids have three more years left. Almost everybody has two more years left. So the valuable experience they got as freshmen, you can’t buy it.”

Among the young players poised to be in starting roles this season is sophomore quarterback Billy Bahl. He completed just 44.5 percent of his passes as a freshman last season for 1,409 yards with eight touchdowns against 13 interceptions.

“Billy obviously is big, strong and can really fire the football, as he showed,” Martin said. “He learned that decision making in college is way different than decision making in high school.”

Other key offensive players back include sophomore running back Alonzo Smith (498 rushing yards, five rushing TDs in 2015), senior wide receiver Rokeem Williams (543 receiving yards, two receiving TDs) and senior right tackle Collin Buchanan.

Junior Paul Moses (71 tackles) is back at linebacker, while senior J.T. Jones (10 sacks) will anchor the defensive line.

The first month of schedule is a tough one for Miami.

The RedHawks will open at defending Big Ten West Division champion Iowa on Sept. 3. After hosting FCS school Eastern Illinois, Miami will stay in Oxford to face defending Conference USA champ WKU, then head south to play American Athletic Conference contender and rival Cincinnati.

“You’ve got two tough ones with Western and then obviously Cincinnati, which still has a ton of talent down the road,” Martin said. “It’s obviously very challenging.”

—Follow Daily News sports reporter Brad Stephens on Twitter @BradBGDN or visit bgdailynews.com.