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Louisiana Tech's quarterback play left much to be desired last season, and while some of the issues fell on the offensive line, the Tech coaching staff has been looking for a transfer quarterback that could come in and help them right away.

Enter, former Iowa Hawkeye Cody Sokol.

Sokol signed with Iowa in 2012 from Scottsdale Community College. With offers from Iowa, Arizona, Cincinnati and Maryland from the AQ conference ranks, Sokol was a sought after quarterback in 2012. As a sophomore at Scottsdale, he threw for 3,807 yards, 43 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

In 2012, Sokol redshirted as James Vandenberg finished his final season with the Hawkeyes and Sokol learned the offense and built a rapport with his teammates. The situation would have played out nicely had everything gone as Sokol had envisioned. Vanderberg would graduate and Sokol would start for two years at quarterback for the Hawkeyes.

During the spring and fall of 2013 Sokol battled for the starting spot in an even race. Towards the end of fall, Sokol and Jake Rudock had risen to the top and were beginning to get more reps with the first team offense. Sokol remembered back to a conversation he had with the coaching staff when he was told that if he became the starter, Rudock would be the backup and if Rudock became the starter, he would probably slide down to third string because they would want to get the younger quarterbacks playing time.

"Things didn't go as well as I wanted them to, so I ended up getting put down into the third spot," Sokol said. "After that, I just wanted to go play somewhere. The coaches here (at Iowa) and I are pretty close, and they understood and said that we have three great quarterbacks that could probably start anywhere else in the nation too. They were fine with me leaving and actually helped me out."

Sokol began receiving email from schools inquiring about his services, but most wanted to reevaluate their situations after spring football but Tech was clear in their intentions. He was hearing from Hawaii, Wake Forest, Ball State, South Alabama, North Texas and New Mexico State. With four other offers in hand, Sokol decided on Tech because of how well the visit went.

"I got a hold of Coach Petersen and Coach Holtz and they were really excited about me and getting me down to Louisiana Tech. I took a visit down there about four weeks ago and I really liked it. The visit was more about what I wanted to see, what they had in the playbook, the depth that was returning, looked at highlights and got me up on the board going through some plays, reading coverages and decision-making process."

After his visit, Sokol spoke with his mother about the opportunity and how he felt like it was the place for him.

"That's all I could ask for, is an opportunity to go down there and be the starter. That was my biggest thing I was looking at was playing time. I see a big hole in their offense at that (quarterback) position and am willing to fill it for a year. They said they have some good quarterbacks on their roster, the biggest thing is they haven't matured yet. I feel like I bring a veteran role to Louisiana Tech."

It was not hard for Sokol to look at the depth chart and see there are pieces in place for the offense to be successful.

"There are a lot of guys up front returning that were big pieces to the puzzle. They had some speed out at wide receiver -- something we maybe didn't have as much at Iowa. I looked at Dixon and he's a great running back to have next to you. They have a lot of good offensive players around you to facilitate the ball to."

Iowa was more of a pro-style offense and with Tech's spread offense, Sokol is glad to get back to something similar to what he had at Scottsdale Community College.

For Tech fans, Scottsdale Community College is familiar because that was where former Tech quarterback and current outside receivers coach Tim Rattay played. Tim's father, Jim, was a coach at Sokol's high school, Desert Vista High School in Phoenix, Ariz.

Sokol is scheduled to graduate from Iowa in May and will move to Ruston the first week of June to begin working out with the team and throwing to his new receivers.