Career
He later became the head football and basketball coach at the University of Southern Mississippi and the Virginia Military Institute. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1964. Coach Wallace Wade called him "undoubtedly one of the greatest football players of all time."
Pooley dropped out of high school to fight in World War I. He earned a scholarship to play football at Princeton University but arrived too late for the entrance examinations
He tried a few other schools before ultimately enrolling at the University of Alabama as a 20-year-old freshman.
By the time he was a 24-year-old senior, his teammates had begun calling him "Papa Pooley" because he was so much older than them. Pooley initially played tackle in college, but was eventually put in the backfield where he excelled at fullback and quarterback.
He was a college football coach at Southern Mission, and Virginia Military Institute. From 1931 to 1936, he coached at Southern Mission, where he compiled a 26–24–5 record. From 1937 to 1946, he coached at Virginia Military Institute, where he compiled a 43–45–8 record.
His 1938 squad set a school record with four ties.
His best season came in 1940, when he went 7–2–1.