Georgia Tech will visit Kansas University on Sept. 11.

Andy McCollum would consider himself a football guy.

He’d likely call himself the type of gritty, down-to-earth, jammed knuckles, blood-and-dirt-under-the-nails kind of guy who thinks every football player should be born with those characteristics only.

Only thing is, not every football personality is made alike.

To that end, the assistant coach understands that not all of his Georgia Tech defensive linemen were created the way he wants. So he is on a mission to mold them into the smash mouth, clock-punching unit he desires.

“We’ve got a group that’s going to be a blue-collar group, a hard-working group,” the defensive line coach said. “They’re going to have to be a group that’s going to have to have a high motor every play, and we’re just going to be a bunch of guys that grind and grind and grind.”

If that happens for 12 regular-season games, he could have Yellow Jackets fans close to saying “Derrick, who?” by the end of the year.

That, however, could be a very difficult task.

Derrick Morgan, Georgia Tech’s quarterback-devouring, tackle-slipping defensive end from a year ago earned so much respect around the football world that he was selected in the first round of April’s NFL Draft by the Tennessee Titans. A player with promise before he even stepped foot on campus, Morgan was widely regarded as the best player on Georgia Tech’s defensive line — his sophomore year. That same season, three other soon-to-be professional talents lurked nearby.

So, like replacing receiver Demaryius Thomas and safety Morgan Burnett, replacing Morgan won’t be easy. One could argue that because of the legacy the reigning ACC defensive player of the year is leaving, it shouldn’t be; at least, it shouldn’t be for one person.

“It’s not going to be anyone’s individual effort,” defensive end Jason Peters said. “It’s going to be us as a team, us as a defense that’s going to go out and do what it takes to win.”

There’s McCollum’s blue-collar mentality.

Peters, the anticipated replacement filling Morgan’s shoes specifically at left rush side end, said he has gotten questions this offseason from fans and reporters eager to know if he feels pressured to be the guy charged with coming in behind the vaunted NFL rookie star. The pressure is minimal, Peters argued, only because there are others there to help him.

“People have asked me that before, but my biggest focus is on this defense. How I can make this a better defense, and how I can play my role best in this defense to help us win games,” Peters said. “If the sacks and everything else and all that good stuff comes with it, it comes with it. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. But I’m going to do everything to make sure to help my teammates win.”

A fourth-year junior, Peters has spent the past four seasons moving around the Yellow Jackets’ depth chart. When he came to Georgia Tech, he was a defensive end.

Then, he was switched last fall to defensive tackle. Now, as the team transitions to a new three-lineman base defensive scheme, he finds himself back at his old spot.

For McCollum, in order for the defense to truly shine, it will need to continue to harp on the things he has been preaching during this now eight-month new defense installation period.

“Through practice and everything else, we’ve got to develop a physically tough mentality and that’s what they’re doing,” McCollum said. “We are who we are. It’s a team game, it’s a defensive game, and we’ve got to do our role for the defense and that’s for us to be physical.

“And that has to be as a group.”