Ex-Hawkeye QB Cody Sokol found football happiness

A quarterback transferred from the University of Iowa last year, and it became a happily-ever-after story.

Cody Sokol is training in Arizona in hopes of hooking on with a National Football League team. He spent two years at Iowa after leaving Scottsdale Community College near his Phoenix home. He red-shirted his first season, and was on the Hawkeyes' active roster in 2013. But he was No. 3 at his position and never got to throw a pass.

He graduated from Iowa last May, and chose to transfer and become immediately eligible to play elsewhere for his senior season.

'Things obviously didn't work out the way I'd hoped at Iowa,” Sokol said Thursday, 'but I had a great experience and learned from it.

'I wanted to play ball my last year. I was a couple years removed from actually playing, and I wanted to play Division I ball and start. The biggest thing for me was going where someone really needed me.”

Several D-I schools were interested, and Sokol went to Louisiana Tech.

'(Coach) Skip Holtz runs a multiple offense,” Sokol said, 'from the shotgun, from underneath (center), they ran play-action, little screens. They throw the ball all over the yard.”

Sokol threw the ball all over the yard. He passed for 3,436 yards, and had 30 touchdown throws to just 13 interceptions. His team was 7-1 in Conference USA, 9-5 overall.

Twice, Sokol passed for five TDs in a game. Five times, he had completions of 69 yards or longer. He was named the C-USA Newcomer of the Year. His team defeated Illinois in the Heart of Dallas Bowl.

'It was nice to have a game against a Big Ten team in a bowl game and beat them,” he said, 'letting people know I could compete at that level.

'Overall, it was a fun year.”

It came without any burned bridges or bruised feelings.

'I always had the support from those coaches at Iowa,” Sokol said. 'Coach (Ken) O'Keefe originally brought me in. He came out and visited me at Scottsdale.

'Greg Davis (who replaced O'Keefe as offensive coordinator in 2012) has been awesome to me ever since he walked in. Coach (Kirk) Ferentz, Coach (Chris) Doyle, they understood I'm a football player and how competitive I am, and that I wanted to play.

'I wish things would have worked out there, but there were no hard feelings.”

Asked about quarterback Jake Rudock's recent transfer from Iowa to Michigan, Sokol said 'I wish Jake the best. I'm glad to see C.J. (Beathard) get an opportunity, as well.”

Nic Shimonek was also an Iowa quarterback when Sokol was at Iowa. Shimonek transferred to Texas Tech.

'I hope things work out for all three of them and they find happiness,” Sokol said.