There are still hurdles standing in the way of name, image, and likeness becoming fully legal on July 1, but the Florida Senate just took a step in the right direction.

If you haven’t been following this story, Florida was set to allow name, image, and likeness to become legal on July 1, 2021, for months. In fact, Florida was once considered the nationwide leader in the race to pass name, image, and likeness, which forced the hands of many states to do the same — including Georgia and Alabama.

Don’t think for a second that Kirby Smart or Nick Saban wanted to fall behind to the Gators when it comes to a recruiting advantage.

However, this week, the Florida Legislature unexpectedly made the decision to push the name, image, and likeness issue to July 1, 2022. The decision was buried 66 pages into a 20,000-word document.

After receiving push back from several coaches and players from the state, including Dan Mullen (his tweet can be seen below), the Florida Senate voted to restore name, image, and likeness to July 1, 2021, on Friday.

Now the measure has to pass Florida House in order for it to become law on July 1, 2021.