ATLANTA -- In the middle of his interview, CeCe Jefferson grabbed the confetti stuck on his neck and shoved it into his mouth.

"It tastes good," joked the Gators senior defensive end.

I'm sure it did. Victories tend to make things taste a lot better.

The Florida football team and the seniors accomplished their mission of coming full circle. The Gators rolled past Michigan 41-15 on Saturday night to win the Peach Bowl and to send out the seniors on a high note.

"Oh man, it's amazing. This is what we came back for," Florida senior offensive lineman Martez Ivey said. "This is what coach [Dan] Mullen came for, to bring back the Gator standard. I know next year around this time -- what time are the playoffs at, 4:30? -- they'll be playing next year, 4:30, right about now, getting ready for the game."

"We went out with a bang for them," said athlete Amari Burney. "Their legacy is going to be great. Their winning legends right now."

"It really is [special],”Dan Mullen said after the game. “In year one, to come here and to know where we were this time a year ago to where we are today, it's special to me.

"They didn't have to buy in. They didn't have to believe. I told them, I didn't recruit you. You didn't come here to play for me, but you did come here to be a Florida Gator."

Prior to the game, the Gators head coach and his wife, Megan, credited the fourth and fifth year Gators as the reason the staff could turn around the program. After the win over the Wolverines, Mullen drove that point home.

“I want to thank all those seniors, also, for believing in me. I told our guys, the sooner everybody bought in, the sooner we'll start winning,” explained Mullen. “It's evident. It started with the seniors. Those guys believed from day one. Nobody questioned, nobody resisted, everybody tried to do whatever we asked them to do."

And even on Saturday, you saw those veterans lead the younger athletes, like Amari Burney, Trey Dean and James Houston every step of the way.

Through mistakes and through adversity. Adversity that these seniors were no strangers to.

"It felt like a dream come true," said Jefferson about winning a New Year's Six bowl in his final game. "We didn't make a bowl game last year, but we made history today. We are the only team in Florida to win ten games and I really think this is the start of something new."

Jefferson also hopes that the younger batch of Gators will learn from the seniors' mistakes. Both Ivey and Jefferson share their advice for the next group of veterans.

"I had to miss those two games for some mistakes I made. But it's like, people made mistakes it's about how you handle adversity and how you bounce back," he explained. My teammates welcomed me back with open arms and still considered me as their leader."

"You got work hard for everything," he added. "I think this game speaks for that."

"Just keep working. Every day act like it's your last," Ivey added. "That time comes fast, four years. I was just at national signing day. It goes by fast, and you never know. I'm glad we stuck it through in the SEC. It was all worth it."

“A lot of them, this was the last time they put those pads on, and they get to walk off the field as Champions today,'" said Mullen. "They get to walk off, says it right here [pointing to his t-shirt], it says champions.

“You ask what a successful season is, and it's you got better every single day,” he said. “I would call this season a success. I'm proud of all these guys up here on stage with me. But the whole team and those guys bought in to believing what we're trying to build and to get that Gator Standard back.”

According to Jefferson, he hopes to see the Gators back in Atlanta next season.

"Hopefully they will get back here for the playoff game," said Jefferson. "If everybody just continue to buy in, the sky is the limit for those [younger] guys.

"The future is bright for the program. Everyone has experience, so watch out for the Florida Gators next year."