Asked to describe Jim Poole, his close friend of six decades, Archie Manning paused, pregnantly. 

“I’m really struggling with Jim’s death,” he finally said.

After a few seconds of silence, Archie was back. “Jim was a rock,” he said. “He was solid – so smart and just utterly dependable. You always knew what you were going to get with Jim. You could always count on him. Nicest guy ever, as good a friend as I’ve ever had, as good a friend as anyone could ever hope to have.”

Poole, a big, strapping tight end, caught many of the passes Manning threw at Ole Miss. They had met as high school juniors, Jim from Oxford, Archie from Drew. That was 60 years ago, They remained close friends until Jim’s death Sunday following a short illness. James E. Poole Jr. was 76.

Poole and Manning were members of a group of former Ole Miss football players who called themselves “The Dirty Thirty,” a name that requires an explanation.

“When we got to Ole Miss there were 64 of us freshmen football players, if you can believe that,” Manning said. “Sixty-four! There were 40 of us on scholarship and 24 walk-ons. Then, Coach Wobble (Wobble Davidson, the freshman coach) got hold of us. Let me tell you, that was a gut check. He almost killed us, and some probably wished they were dead.  People were quitting right and left. By the end of that freshman season, there were 30 of us left, the dirty 30.”

Poole knew what he was getting into. He had grown up at Ole Miss going to football practices. His dad, Buster, and uncle, Ray, both coached under John Vaught. His Uncle Barney had been an Ole Miss All American who caught the passes of Charlie Conerly. The Poole family is a huge part of Ole Miss lore. Naturally, Poole Drive runs through the center of campus.

They were huge men, the Pooles were. James E. “Buster” Poole, Jim’s dad, was the oldest of the Ole Miss Pooles who grew up near Gloster in Amite County in remote southwest Mississippi near the sandy banks of the Homochitto River. The community’s only school only went through the 11th grade, so Buster boarded in Natchez for a year to get his high school diploma. He returned home for Christmas and told his younger brothers, “Boys, I have found a game we can play.” 

That game was football, and, boy, they could play it. All were tall, broad-shouldered, swift and country strong. All three of the brothers played end. All three also played baseball and basketball at Ole Miss. All played football professionally. They began a long line of Pooles and Poole in-laws at Ole Miss. At last count, the Poole family has earned more than 50 Ole Miss varsity athletic letters.

Jim Poole earned three, only because freshmen couldn’t play for the varsity back in 1968. In Vaught’s offensive system, tight ends caught passes, but they also had to block. Jim excelled at both.

“Jim had great hands,” Archie said. “If he ever dropped a pass, I don’t remember it. He was just so dependable. He just always did his job and did it well. You know I always told my boys that what separates the great players from just good ones is that the great ones play their best against the best opponents. That was Jim. He was good against everybody but he was great against the LSUs, the Alabamas, the Tennessees and in the bowl games. He had big games when it counted most.”

Older fans all remember the Alabama-Ole Miss shootout in 1969 when Ole Miss rolled up more than 600 yards of offense only to lose 33-32. Poole caught six passes for 72 yards. That same season, Ole Miss came from 11 points down to defeat LSU in Jackson. Poole caught eight passes for 77 yards. When Manning was the MVP of the 1970 Sugar Bowl, Poole caught seven for 72. In the 1971 Gator Bowl against Auburn, Poole caught nine passes for 111 yards and a touchdown.

Said Skipper Jernigan, an outstanding guard on those Rebel teams, “When you know you can count on somebody it means a lot. We knew we could always count on Jim Poole.”

Poole, the Oxford native, made sure his fellow freshmen Jernigan, Manning and Billy Van Devender learned the essentials of living in what then was a sleepy little college town. That included the hot fudge sundae at Leslie’s Drug Store, playing eight-ball at Purvis’s Pool Hall and eating home-cooked meals from Jim’s mom, Anna.

Jernigan, Manning, Van Devender and Poole remained especially close in the decades since. Poole’s death clearly has been a gut punch, far worse than Coach Wobble ever delivered, to the other three.

They all speak of Jim’s loyalty, his wit, his faith and his giving nature. In his later life and especially since he retired as a highly successful CPA, Poole volunteered much of his time working in prison ministry, specifically through Kairos Prison Ministry. Earle Burkley, a first cousin, introduced him to the volunteer work and says Poole dedicated himself to trying to improve the lives of convicts, primarily at Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Pearl.

“Jim was always big on helping less fortunate folks any way he could,” Burkley said. “Not a whole lot of people want to do that kind of work in prisons, but Jim tried it and saw he could help. And so he did it. That was just Jim.”

•••

Visitation will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, with the funeral in the sanctuary at 11:30 a.m. Burial will be at 4 p.m. at Oxford Memorial Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Gateway Rescue Mission (P.O. Box 3763, Jackson, MS 39207) or online to Kairos Prison Ministry.