** Above video includes unseen portion of Megan Mullen interview posted earlier this month by GT**

ATLANTA -- Florida will step into Mercedes-Benz Stadium to play a New Year's Six Bowl one year removed from a four-win season.

Although many will point to Gators head coach Dan Mullen and his staff as the biggest reason for the change, Mullen has a different reason for the success.

"I think the key was lack of resistance," Mullen told reporters during his press conference on Friday. "Everything that we asked the guys to do, they welcomed.

"I think if anything, the thing that allowed us to have success was our older players," added Mullen. "I mean, you look at guys like Martez Ivey and the rest of our seniors. They came in and they were willing to try whatever we were going to ask them to do."

"We are trying to set the standard for the younger guys to show them what hard work can get you," senior defensive end CeCe Jefferson said. "I think they have done a good job of buying in, of watching us to see how we move. Picking up on small things that we do and not to do. I think winning this game would be huge in moving forward for this program."

The Gators will have a chance to record their tenth win on Saturday when they face off against Michigan in the Peach Bowl. This will be the final opportunity for the Florida seniors to wear the orange and blue.

"In my opinion they are as much my team and my babies as they are his," Mullen's wife and partner, Megan Mullen, said. "We are just blessed to be around 119 big babies and that are good men. It's an honor."

Megan, alongside her husband, has tried to create a family atmosphere for her football "babies" this season.

"When we took that loss to Kentucky, she was the only person that came to me and talked to me and got my mind straight - saying things could be better," senior tight end C'Yontai Lewis said. "She was just always there with you."

"She has just been that mother figure thats been there when you are away from home and can't talk to your mom," said senior tight end RJ Raymond. "She is always there to give you a hug on Gator Walk. She doesn't have to do that and she does. She goes out of her way to do that, and I'm appreciative of that."

Mama Mullen will be forced to say good bye to a number of her kids this Saturday. The Florida matriarch admits it will be hard to see her babies leave the nest.

"The only thing that would make me feel bad this week is that I don't get more time with them," said an emotional Megan at senior day. "I know that they would like much more time with us and that is a bit of a bummer that we don't get them even longer. I wish we could."

"They are teaching us to be great men, instead of just football players. Thats what I like about them," said Lewis. "I wish I could back and see where they take the program."

"We treat them like our own sons," added the Gators head coach. "We're not a family program that's just all lovey-dovey....Guys come by, she'll be like, oh, my goodness, you did so amazing, give him a big hug; I'm like, he dropped a pass in the third quarter.

"I'm probably a lot more critical and she's extremely loving. But we're a pretty good team that way."

The duo teamed up this week to make sure their Gator family was comfortable as they spent the holidays away from families.

Whether it was dressing up Nick Savage as Santa Claus or celebrating Christmas morning together, the Mullens wanted to make sure the Gator family embraced each other.

"I think he [Dan Mullen] did a good job with that... Some of my teammates weren’t as blessed growing up as I was, so this might have been their first Christmas," said Raymond. "As a football team, being together as a family is just going to make you that much better. You can trust everybody."

Although this may be goodbye for the senior class, it will not be lasting farewell.

"They do not leave our lives I promise you that," said an emotional Megan on senior day. "I know they will be back whenever they can all the time, and when we are winning a national championship in a couple of years, I am going to see them on the field afterwards and we are just going to laugh and smile, and say, 'you know what, you started all this though.' We are all in it together."

In the end, this is the senior class that bought in. This is the class that brought back the 'Gator Standard.’

"They get to leave the legacy of winning," said Megan Mullen.

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