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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Chapter to Honor Johnny McRight and James E. Poole, Jr. with National Football Foundation Awards
9/11/2025 | Football
OXFORD, Miss. – The Ole Miss Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame will honor Johnny McRight of Greenville, Mississippi with its Contribution to Amateur Football Award and James E. Poole, Jr. of Jackson, Mississippi with the Distinguished American Award on Sat., Sept. 13, when the Rebels host the Arkansas Razorbacks. Kickoff for the ESPN telecast is set for 6 p.m. CT at Vaught‑Hemingway Stadium/Hollingsworth Field.
The Contribution to Amateur Football Award is given by the Ole Miss Chapter in honor of those who have made numerous contributions to the college athletics world through service to their fellow man, while the Distinguished American Award is presented to individuals who have set the standards for excellence in a life of service to the community.
"We are pleased to honor Johnny McRight and James E. Poole, Jr. for their contributions to Ole Miss Athletics," said Richard Noble of Indianola, Mississippi, president of the Ole Miss Chapter. "They are most deserving of this recognition, and having an on-campus salute provides an excellent opportunity to express our sincere appreciation for all they have done for Ole Miss."
Athletics Director Keith Carter and National Football Foundation Vice Chairman Jack Ford will join Noble for the on-field presentation honoring McRight and Poole.
In June of 1975, after both Johnny and Renee McRight had completed their Masters Degrees from the University of Mississippi, they moved home to Greenville, Mississippi, and in 1976 McRight founded McRight Soil Testing, Inc. They have a daughter and four grandsons.
Supporting both academics and athletics, the McRight's developed three endowments to support Ole Miss students, primarily in Graduate School. The McRight Biology Scholarship and the McRight Speech-Language Scholarship are to support first year graduate students. The Lila Lee McRight Endowment for Veterans is to support veterans with living expenses while attending Ole Miss. Johnny and Renee are members of the Vaught Society, which serves as the leadership fundraising catalyst under the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation in support of Ole Miss and its quest for conference and national championships.
Initially, Johnny provided soil sampling and testing services. Shortly thereafter, he opened a private soil testing laboratory to process his own samples. Later he added plant tissue testing, crop monitoring and nutrient consulting services. By 1979, McRight had moved into its current location, and between 1979 and 1990, he introduced poly-tubing for irrigation to the Mississippi Delta, and co-founded Delta Crop Insurance Agency, Inc., both of which he later sold in 1991 to focus his efforts on crop nutrition.
After many years working in crop nutrition on hundreds of thousands of acres, McRight began to realize that, other than soil pH and fertilizer levels, there were many other issues holding crop yields back. By 1986, after several years of development and testing, he reverted back to parts of his formal education dealing with plant chemistry. By 1989, he had developed, tested and introduced the concept of biostimulants and the McRight product line to the growers of the Ark-La-Miss Delta. At the time all business was retail to growers, but eventually agricultural suppliers began re-selling to growers. By 1998, McRight Services, LLC had been converted to 100% wholesale product sales through major agricultural distributors.
Currently, McRight Services, LLC provides 15 products, all labeled under the DeltAg Formulations brand. The product line is registered and distributed in the 48 contiguous states, Canada and several other countries overseas. The staff consists of 12 people in support at the Home Office in Greenville and 24 Sales Reps who work primarily across the Southeast, lower Midwest and Texas. In other areas, McRight's products are represented by sales reps of the distributors of DeltAg products. At the location in Greenville, the company formulates, manufactures, labels, packages and ships all of the DeltAg products to distributors.
McRight Services LLC also provides product and crop nutrition training seminars annually to dealers. These seminars include educational information on the 15 DeltAg products along with basic crop nutrition. The focus is to utilize the low application rate of DeltAg's products to take growers to the next generation of crop nutrition.
With a stable and successful business, McRight began to volunteer in numerous organizations. He is currently serving on the University of Mississippi Foundation Board, the Mississippi Community College Board, Delta Workforce Development Board and is a board member and Transportation Committee Chair at Delta Council. He served four years on the Ole Miss Liberal Arts Board, three years on the Capps Center Advisory Board, and eight years as Vice-Chair of the Washington County Economic Alliance. He is a member of the First Baptist Church in Greenville and has served as a Trustee and Deacon.
A native of Oxford, Mississippi, James E. Poole, Jr., earned his Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a major in Accounting from the University of Mississippi in 1972. While attending Ole Miss, he earned three letters (1969-70-71) at tight end on the Rebel football team as he carried on the impressive legacy of the Pooles of Ole Miss, an extraordinary family with an athletic linage like no other at the University of Mississippi, earning over 50 athletic letters, and having a street -- Poole Drive -- named in their honor.
Jim Poole earned first-team All-SEC honors from United Press International his junior and senior seasons, while also rating second-team All-SEC by The Associated Press his junior campaign. He helped lead Ole Miss to a 25-9 overall record during his three varsity seasons and participated in three bowl games (Sugar, Gator & Peach). He also led Ole Miss receivers in the 1970 Sugar Bowl against Arkansas with seven receptions for 70 yards (before suffering a back injury) and in the 1971 Gator Bowl against Auburn with nine receptions for 111 yards and a 23-yard touchdown reception. His career receiving totals included 110 receptions for 1,196 yards (10.9 yards per catch) and six touchdowns.
Following his graduation from the University of Mississippi, Jim moved to Jackson and in 1978 married Gayle Smithson, also of Jackson. Jim and Gayle have three daughters and 10 grandchildren. Active in the First Presbyterian Church of Jackson, Poole is also involved in the community with several church related ministries. He previously volunteered for Kairos Prison Ministries, an organization devoted to serve incarcerated men, women and youth and to assist those who have been impacted by incarceration. He previously served on the ministry's Central Mississippi Board of Directors and has served for over 20 years on the Board of Directors for Cal-Maine Foods, a Mississippi based company that is listed on the NASDAQ.
Poole is a certified public accountant who retired in 2013 as a principal of GranthamPoole, a public accounting firm he co-founded in 1999. GranthamPoole grew into one of the southeastern United States' largest regional accounting firms, driven largely by the firm's recognized expertise designing audit, ethics and governance programs for clients. Poole's service to the firm included Management Committee membership and senior partner and principal roles. His practice focused on identifying clients' key business risks and helping them integrate liability management and insurance strategies into growth-focused operating cultures.
Prior to co-founding GranthamPoole, he founded James E. Poole, CPA, a public accounting firm, in 1985. Under his leadership, the firm quickly scaled its valuation and merger and advisory practices on behalf of corporate clients pursuing growth among other specialty areas. Previously, he co-founded Mississippi Mortgage Company, which focused on low-income housing mortgage origination and syndication. He also built other businesses, including a real estate company focused on residential development in the Florida panhandle in addition to a business dedicated to oil and gas exploration.
The Contribution to Amateur Football Award is given by the Ole Miss Chapter in honor of those who have made numerous contributions to the college athletics world through service to their fellow man, while the Distinguished American Award is presented to individuals who have set the standards for excellence in a life of service to the community.
"We are pleased to honor Johnny McRight and James E. Poole, Jr. for their contributions to Ole Miss Athletics," said Richard Noble of Indianola, Mississippi, president of the Ole Miss Chapter. "They are most deserving of this recognition, and having an on-campus salute provides an excellent opportunity to express our sincere appreciation for all they have done for Ole Miss."
Athletics Director Keith Carter and National Football Foundation Vice Chairman Jack Ford will join Noble for the on-field presentation honoring McRight and Poole.
In June of 1975, after both Johnny and Renee McRight had completed their Masters Degrees from the University of Mississippi, they moved home to Greenville, Mississippi, and in 1976 McRight founded McRight Soil Testing, Inc. They have a daughter and four grandsons.
Supporting both academics and athletics, the McRight's developed three endowments to support Ole Miss students, primarily in Graduate School. The McRight Biology Scholarship and the McRight Speech-Language Scholarship are to support first year graduate students. The Lila Lee McRight Endowment for Veterans is to support veterans with living expenses while attending Ole Miss. Johnny and Renee are members of the Vaught Society, which serves as the leadership fundraising catalyst under the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation in support of Ole Miss and its quest for conference and national championships.
Initially, Johnny provided soil sampling and testing services. Shortly thereafter, he opened a private soil testing laboratory to process his own samples. Later he added plant tissue testing, crop monitoring and nutrient consulting services. By 1979, McRight had moved into its current location, and between 1979 and 1990, he introduced poly-tubing for irrigation to the Mississippi Delta, and co-founded Delta Crop Insurance Agency, Inc., both of which he later sold in 1991 to focus his efforts on crop nutrition.
After many years working in crop nutrition on hundreds of thousands of acres, McRight began to realize that, other than soil pH and fertilizer levels, there were many other issues holding crop yields back. By 1986, after several years of development and testing, he reverted back to parts of his formal education dealing with plant chemistry. By 1989, he had developed, tested and introduced the concept of biostimulants and the McRight product line to the growers of the Ark-La-Miss Delta. At the time all business was retail to growers, but eventually agricultural suppliers began re-selling to growers. By 1998, McRight Services, LLC had been converted to 100% wholesale product sales through major agricultural distributors.
Currently, McRight Services, LLC provides 15 products, all labeled under the DeltAg Formulations brand. The product line is registered and distributed in the 48 contiguous states, Canada and several other countries overseas. The staff consists of 12 people in support at the Home Office in Greenville and 24 Sales Reps who work primarily across the Southeast, lower Midwest and Texas. In other areas, McRight's products are represented by sales reps of the distributors of DeltAg products. At the location in Greenville, the company formulates, manufactures, labels, packages and ships all of the DeltAg products to distributors.
McRight Services LLC also provides product and crop nutrition training seminars annually to dealers. These seminars include educational information on the 15 DeltAg products along with basic crop nutrition. The focus is to utilize the low application rate of DeltAg's products to take growers to the next generation of crop nutrition.
With a stable and successful business, McRight began to volunteer in numerous organizations. He is currently serving on the University of Mississippi Foundation Board, the Mississippi Community College Board, Delta Workforce Development Board and is a board member and Transportation Committee Chair at Delta Council. He served four years on the Ole Miss Liberal Arts Board, three years on the Capps Center Advisory Board, and eight years as Vice-Chair of the Washington County Economic Alliance. He is a member of the First Baptist Church in Greenville and has served as a Trustee and Deacon.
A native of Oxford, Mississippi, James E. Poole, Jr., earned his Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a major in Accounting from the University of Mississippi in 1972. While attending Ole Miss, he earned three letters (1969-70-71) at tight end on the Rebel football team as he carried on the impressive legacy of the Pooles of Ole Miss, an extraordinary family with an athletic linage like no other at the University of Mississippi, earning over 50 athletic letters, and having a street -- Poole Drive -- named in their honor.
Jim Poole earned first-team All-SEC honors from United Press International his junior and senior seasons, while also rating second-team All-SEC by The Associated Press his junior campaign. He helped lead Ole Miss to a 25-9 overall record during his three varsity seasons and participated in three bowl games (Sugar, Gator & Peach). He also led Ole Miss receivers in the 1970 Sugar Bowl against Arkansas with seven receptions for 70 yards (before suffering a back injury) and in the 1971 Gator Bowl against Auburn with nine receptions for 111 yards and a 23-yard touchdown reception. His career receiving totals included 110 receptions for 1,196 yards (10.9 yards per catch) and six touchdowns.
Following his graduation from the University of Mississippi, Jim moved to Jackson and in 1978 married Gayle Smithson, also of Jackson. Jim and Gayle have three daughters and 10 grandchildren. Active in the First Presbyterian Church of Jackson, Poole is also involved in the community with several church related ministries. He previously volunteered for Kairos Prison Ministries, an organization devoted to serve incarcerated men, women and youth and to assist those who have been impacted by incarceration. He previously served on the ministry's Central Mississippi Board of Directors and has served for over 20 years on the Board of Directors for Cal-Maine Foods, a Mississippi based company that is listed on the NASDAQ.
Poole is a certified public accountant who retired in 2013 as a principal of GranthamPoole, a public accounting firm he co-founded in 1999. GranthamPoole grew into one of the southeastern United States' largest regional accounting firms, driven largely by the firm's recognized expertise designing audit, ethics and governance programs for clients. Poole's service to the firm included Management Committee membership and senior partner and principal roles. His practice focused on identifying clients' key business risks and helping them integrate liability management and insurance strategies into growth-focused operating cultures.
Prior to co-founding GranthamPoole, he founded James E. Poole, CPA, a public accounting firm, in 1985. Under his leadership, the firm quickly scaled its valuation and merger and advisory practices on behalf of corporate clients pursuing growth among other specialty areas. Previously, he co-founded Mississippi Mortgage Company, which focused on low-income housing mortgage origination and syndication. He also built other businesses, including a real estate company focused on residential development in the Florida panhandle in addition to a business dedicated to oil and gas exploration.
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