Despite his recent policy of handing trials to experienced out-of-contract players, it was an obvious thing for him to do given his background at Leeds where he is credited with bringing through a number of players from the youth team who are now excelling in the Championship and it was part of the remit set out by chairman Tony Stewart.
His two loan signings to date - Harry Toffolo and Brandon Barker - have started that process and at one point in the 1-1 draw against Reading, there were five players in a Millers shirt under the age of 21 as he has given youngsters such as Tom Thorpe and Grant Ward an extended chance.
And as a result it has seen the average age of the starting line-up drop to just under 27 with the last two games posting 26.26.
But for Redfearn to come in and immediately say he wanted to bring the age of the squad down suggests that the Millers were a side of geriatrics, waiting to be put out to grass.
While they do have some players who are nearer the ends of their careers than the beginning, the average age of the squad is nowhere near the highest in the division.
In fact, the Millers have the 10th lowest average age of a starting line-up this season.
But is youth definitely the best policy?
QPR, Brighton and Burnley have the most experienced teams, with all three having an average starting XI age of over 28, with Middlesbrough and Birmingham just under 28.
Four of those five teams are having impressive seasons so far.
But Redfearn will want to stick with what he knows best and it is no surprise to see Leeds register the lowest average starting XI age at just under 24.5, using players that the current Millers boss brought through the system at Elland Road.
While Redfearn is considered a master at developing young potential, former boss Steve Evans was widely considered to have ignored youth, always preferring a seasoned pro over a younger player.
While that was generally the case, as his near 90 signings suggests, it was Evans who fielded the individually lowest average aged starting XI this season - the opener against MK Dons where Kelle Roos, Grant Ward, Tom Thorpe, Joe Newell, Aidy White, Richie Smallwood and Danny Ward were all under the average age of 25.77.
However, it was also the Scot who fielded the individually highest average with 28.8 against QPR.
Redfearn himself started with 27.43 at Brentford, but has not strayed below above 26.55 as the graphs begins a slide.
So, the new boss is clearly making an effort, with the last five games seeing an average age in the starting XI that was lower than all-but two of Evans' matches.
However, it all counts for nothing unless results start to follow.
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| Stats courtesy of Ben Mayhew @experimental361 |
