Photos by Joshua McCoy/Ole Miss Athletics
By Billy Watkins
As soon as linebacker Chris “Pooh” Paul, Jr. entered the transfer portal following last season, he only wanted one school to call him.
“Ole Miss,” said the former Arkansas Razorback. “After playing against them for three years, I didn’t want to go anywhere else.”
He played like it Saturday night in his first game as a Rebel. He led the team with eight tackles, registered half a sack, made 2.5 stops for losses and broke up a pass. His energy, speed and nose for the ball were evident in the Rebels’ 76-0 win over Furman.
That sort of ability and savvy from Paul made an impression on Kiffin and defensive coordinator Pete Golding during last year’s 27-20 victory over the Razorbacks in Oxford.
“He got injured late in our game (last year) and (we were) able to run the ball a lot better when he was out,” Kiffin said at SEC Media Days in July. “So just seeing his impact … when he became available in free agency, we already knew about him that way. Really glad to have him.”
But why Ole Miss? Why did Paul want that phone call so badly?
He was extremely candid about it during a phone interview this week.
“When I was getting ready to play those boys last year (in Oxford), I kinda got the jitters,” he said. “I noticed how the Ole Miss guys carried themselves. They just had a swagger. The way they were talking to each other and hyping each other up and getting their mindset for the game.
“And the other thing was the fans, man. They were going crazy. That’s something that can get up under your skin, no matter how good a player you are. If you’re playing against a good team and they have a fan base like Ole Miss does, it’s scary. I mean, LSU has 100,000 fans in their stadium and it’s really loud, but there’s just something different about Ole Miss.”
Another factor in his decision to transfer was how the Razorbacks were playing. After a redshirt year, Paul was a key part of the defense in 2022 and 2023. But the Hogs went 7-6 and 4-8 back to back.
With two years of eligibility remaining, Paul left Arkansas with 137 tackles, 15 for loss, six sacks and one forced fumble. He was freshman All-SEC in 2022 and gained national attention entering the 2023 season.
Photos by Joshua McCoy/Ole Miss Athletics
But the Hogs’ SEC season ended last year with blowout losses to Auburn and Missouri, allowing 48 points in each game. Paul knew it was time for a change.
Razorback fans were rattled when he entered the portal. Mason Choate, publisher of hawgbeat.com, wrote a story, trying to explain Paul’s side of it. He quoted former Arkansas tight end DJ Williams, the 2010 Mackey Award winner as the nation’s best tight end.
“I look at Chris “Pooh” Paul. Love the way that he plays and I can see the passion,” Williams said on his podcast Fourth&5 with Josh Throne. “And he’s out there just (angry) at his own teammates. Not calling anybody (out) or doing all that, but he’s just (angry), because he’s like ‘What are we doing? All these mental mistakes. Just take this stuff serious.’ “
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His parents, Chris Sr. and Velieka Paul, raised ‘Pooh’ and his seven siblings with no-nonsense strictness. His father spent six years in the Navy, then coached ‘Pooh’ from youth football through high school.
“] got a heavy, heavy dose of my dad’s Navy discipline,” Paul said. “He preached character and doing things the right way. At home, it was making sure everything was clean and neat and taking care of your business. And then in football, it was teaching me that no matter how tough things got or how hot that sun was every day, you’ve got to do your best and finish.”
Paul had no jitters at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium before the season opener. “I felt cool, calm and collected,” he said. “I knew I had put in the preparation through the week and had gotten better each day.”
He opened the second half with a crash-dummy tackle of a Furman running back just as he took the handoff, then chased down the quarterback for a sack. A few plays later he registered the form tackle of the night.
“My dad calls them ‘prayer tackles’ — the kind linebackers pray for,” Paul said. “I had the opportunity and I had to take advantage of it. I got to him pretty clean and at that point I just thought, ‘Lights out, man.’ ”
Paul knows that nothing he did in the opener will matter when the Rebels play Middle Tennessee State at 3 p.m. Saturday in Oxford.
“When you play for Coach Kiffin, it’s competitive. Highly competitive,” said Paul, who has a three-month-old daughter, Laya. “It forces everybody around you to get better every day.
“I don’t take all of this for granted. I thank the Lord every day for having a plan for me and bringing me here.”
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