He prepped at Christ the King High in St. Albans (N.Y.). He made the 1998 Prep Star All-American, Prep Star All-Eastern Super 30, Super Prep All-Northeast, Prep Star All-Eastern, Tom Lemming All-East and All-State teams as a senior. He broke his foot in the first game of 1998 and missed the rest of the season until the playoff semifinals.

As a junior in 1997, he made All-East Coast and All-League first team. He rushed for 939 yards with 15 TDs and passed for 276 yards with 4 TDs as a quarterback in 1997 and had 62 tackles with an interception (returned for a TD) as a defensive back.

He also played basketball at Christ the King, earning All-League second team honors (his team was ranked third in the U.S.).

He originally attended Boston College, where he redshirted as a first-year freshman in 1999. He started 10 games at cornerback as a redshirt freshman in 2000, posting 75 tackles (second on the team), including 4 for losses (with a sack), 1 interception, 8 deflections, 1 fumble recovery and 2 forced fumbles while appearing in 11 games. He had 8 tackles and an interception in a victory over Arizona State in the 2000 Aloha Bowl. He also had 9 tackles in 4 different games in 2000 (Virginia Tech, Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame) and 8 versus Connecticut.

He also competed briefly with Boston College's basketball team in 2000 (following the 1999 football season), but did not see any action.

He was suspended for Boston College's 2001 football season because of a violation of team rules.

He was a 2002 J.C. Athletic Bureau All-American first team, J.C. Gridwire All-American, Super Prep JUCO 100, J.C. Athletic Bureau All-State first team, J.C. Athletic Bureau All-State Region III Defensive MVP, All-Western State Conference Mountain Division Defensive MVP and team MVP honoree as a defensive back at Ventura (Calif.) Junior College. He had 42 tackles, including 2 for losses, 7 interceptions and 6 blocked kicks in 2002.

Poole made the most of his only season at USC. The one-time starter at Boston College, who was a J.C. All-American before enrolling at USC this fall, started the last 11 games at cornerback as a senior in 2003. Overall in 2003 while appearing in all 13 games, he made 80 tackles (third on USC), including 9 for losses of 45 yards (with 3 sacks for 30 yards), plus had 4 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries, a team-best 7 interceptions that he returned 70 yards (10.0 avg.) with a 67-yard TD, and a team-high 19 deflections. He also returned 5 punts for 26 yards (5.2 avg.). He made the 2003 AP and Collegefootballnews.com All-American second teams and the Rivals.com All-American honorable mention squad, plus the All-Pac-10 first team and the ESPN.com All-Pac-10 and Collegefootballnews.com All-Pac-10 first teams. He also won USC's Co-Special Teams Player of the Year award. He was tied for fourth nationally in deflections (2.0, first in Pac-10) and tied for eighth in interceptions (0.5, tied for first in Pac-10). His 7 interceptions in 2003 were the most in a season by a Trojan since John Herpin had 7 in 1994. He participated in the Senior Bowl.

He had 11 tackles (9 in the first half) against Oregon State (including 2.5 for losses) along with 2 interceptions (including a 67-yard scoring return), 10 tackles (including 3 for losses, with 2 sacks), 5 deflections and a forced fumble against Michigan in the Rose Bowl, 9 tackles against Hawaii (game high) and Washington (team best), 8 at Arizona State, 7 at California and Notre Dame, and 4 against BYU and Stanford. He had 2 interceptions at Arizona and 1 each against BYU, California, Stanford (to set up a USC TD). He had 2 forced fumbles and both of his fumble recoveries against UCLA. He was the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts at Arizona (2 tackles, 2 interceptions, a deflection and 4 punt returns for 29 yards).

He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in 2004.