Veteran championship football Coach Leslie Pool spent his entire 25-year career guiding the gridiron program for the Olive Branch Conquistadors.  Born in Memphis, Leslie graduated from Hernando High where he was Mr. Hernando High and Most Athletic in 1966.  After serving a stint in the U. S. Army from 1970 to 1971, he completed his college education at Delta State in 1973.  He arrived at Olive Branch in 1974 and served two years as assistant football coach and head baseball coach before taking over as head football coach and athletic director for the next 23 years until 1998.  Coach Pool saw his school grow from 465 students in the 1970’s to over 1,200 students in the 1990’s with a 10 person athletic staff. From 1976 to 1998, Coach Pool built a North Mississippi football powerhouse.  He coached Olive Branch in 251 games winning 181, losing 69 with one tie for a 74% winning mark.  His Quistors captured 10 district and division titles, 7 Chickasaw Conference crowns, and had 3 North State runner-up finishes, and 2 state semifinal appearances in 1987 and 1988. He guided his teams to playoff appearances in 11 out of 18 seasons.  His 1987 and 1996 teams were undefeated and out of 23 seasons, Coach Pool only had 2 losing seasons in 1995 and 1998.  Ten of Leslie’s teams lost only 1 game in the regular season and out of those 10 teams, 6 of the losses were less than a touchdown from perfection.  Coach Pool’s teams had an exceptional record against neighboring schools as Olive Branch won 14 DeSoto County titles with marks of 14-6-1 against Southaven, 17-2 against Horn Lake (including a streak of 17 straight wins from 1976 to 1992), and a mark of 17-2 against his alma mater Hernando Tigers.  He had 7 unbeaten home seasons and his regular season record at home was 108-27-1.  His success on the field brought great recognition to Coach Pool as he was a 7-time Chickasaw Conference Coach of the Year. Leslie served as an All-Star baseball coach for the North in 1978 and was an assistant football coach in the 1981 Bernard Blackwell All-Star Football Classic.  A longtime MAC member, off the field Coach Pool worked with the City of Olive Branch during the summer with the parks and recreation department.  In addition to his MAC Hall of Fame honors, Leslie is a member of the Olive Branch City Hall of Fame and the football field at Olive Branch High is named in his honor as Pool Field.