[3] Before long Poole was starting at center and making his mark as a scorer, posting a game-high 14 points in a narrow 35–33 victory over arch-rivals Mississippi State.
[6] The 1935 Ole Miss squad finished the season with a 9–2 record, winning a berth to the 1936 Orange Bowl game — a New Year's day battle with Catholic University of America of Washington, DC.
[7] In that game Poole was the recipient of a 29-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Dave Bernard in the 4th quarter, but the Ole Miss rally fell one point short in a narrow 20 to 19 defeat.
Although Poole had by now distinguished himself nationally for his size and skill at the end position, the Mississippi team did not have as successful a season as the previous campaign, finishing with a record of 5 wins, 5 losses, and 2 ties.
[15] During his NFL career Poole supplanted his football income by playing semi-professional basketball and baseball, participating in the latter sport as a member of the Evanston Bees of the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa (Three-I) League.
[16] The 1938 NFL season, his second in the league, was a great one for Poole and the New York Giants, with the team finishing with a record of 8–2–1 en route to an Eastern Division title.
[14] In the 1938 NFL Championship playoff game, the Giants faced off against the Green Bay Packers, winning by a score of 23–17 in front of more than 48,000 fans packed into New York City's Polo Grounds.
[18] Poole would also start every game in the 1940 and 1941 seasons for head coach Steve Owen and the New York Giants, catching a total of 16 balls for 230 yards and 5 touchdowns over that course of time.
[20] After the war, Poole returned to the ranks of the NFL for a sixth season, starting the year with the Chicago Cardinals before being transferred back to the Giants after nine games.
[14] He would return to the team for a seventh and final season in 1946, starting all 11 games and tallying career highs in receptions (24) and yards gained (307), and tying his best mark for touchdowns (3).
In January 1946, Poole was appointed interim head coach of the Ole Miss basketball team after the sudden retirement of Edwin "Goat" Hale.