Chad Powers: The Full Story So Far (Season 1, Season 2, and What's Next)

Same guy, two jerseys — Holliday and Powers, back to back

Season 1: A Disgraced QB, a Bad Wig, and a Second Chance

Season 1 opens on the worst night of Russ Holliday's life. He's a hotshot college quarterback on the verge of superstardom, he fumbles the ball right before the end zone in a championship game, and then — instead of quietly eating the loss like a normal person — he shoves a fan into a kid in a wheelchair who has cancer. It's the kind of mistake you don't walk back from, and for eight years, Russ doesn't. He drifts. His football career is dead, his reputation is worse, and the only person who still believes in him is, somewhat improbably, himself.

Two identities, one icon, zero shame — Season 1 key art

Enter Chad Powers. Using prosthetics and makeup skills borrowed from his father's old trade, Russ transforms himself into a goofy, big-toothed, thick-accented walk-on quarterback and talks his way onto the roster of the South Georgia Catfish, a struggling small-college program that badly needs a miracle. Nobody recognizes him. Nobody suspects a thing. Chad Powers becomes the team's unlikely secret weapon, and Russ gets the one thing he thought he'd lost forever: a second shot on the field.

What makes the season work is that it never treats the disguise as just a gag. Chad's growing bond with the team — especially with team mascot Danny, who's in on the secret from day one, and with Ricky, the sharp-eyed team staffer who slowly starts putting the pieces together — gives the comedy real stakes. There's a genuinely sweet running thread about found family and second chances buried under all the fake teeth and hair gel.

The man behind the mustache: Russ Holliday, off the clock

By the midpoint of the season, Chad is thriving — the Catfish go on a hot streak, ESPN comes sniffing around to feature him on College GameDay, and the pressure to keep the lie going gets heavier with every win. Behind the scenes, Russ is barely holding it together, sneaking out of team hotels, dodging questions, and trying to keep his two identities from colliding in front of the wrong person.

"The reality is there's a lot more story to be told. We have a beginning, middle, and end in mind." — Glen Powell, on the arc he always envisioned for Chad's journey

The season finale brings it all to a head on the eve of the biggest game of the year, when Ricky finally uncovers the truth: Chad Powers is Russ Holliday. For a moment it looks like the whole scheme is about to collapse in the worst possible way. But after a heart-to-heart with his father, Russ chooses not to run. He comes back for the game against the Georgia Bulldogs, and Ricky — despite everything — decides to keep his secret rather than blow up her own father's team right before kickoff. The season ends on the field, ball in the air, secret still intact, nothing resolved.

Season 2: The Lie Gets Bigger, and So Do the Stakes

If Season 1 was about Russ building the lie, Season 2 is about watching him try to hold it up while everyone around him leans on it harder than ever. Chad Powers is no longer just a scrappy walk-on nobody saw coming — he's a full-blown star for the Catfish, which is exactly the problem. Stardom comes with cameras, attention, and a lot more people paying close attention to the strange guy with the accent that seems to slip a little more every week.

"Get your game face on" — the full Season 2 cast, key art

Season 2 dropped as a full six-episode binge on September 3, 2026, on Hulu and Disney+, so no waiting around week to week this time — the whole season landed at once. The official premise picks up right where the finale left off: Chad's odd behavior off the field has Coach Hudson and rival quarterback Gerry increasingly suspicious, and the walls are closing in fast. If Russ wants Chad to survive the season and get the Catfish into the College Football Playoff, he needs help from the one person who has every reason not to give it: Ricky.

Reluctant teammates: Chad and Ricky, under the Catfish sign

That dynamic is really the heart of the new season. Ricky knows the truth, and instead of exposing Russ, she becomes an unwilling co-conspirator, which puts her in the same bind Russ has been in from day one — protecting a secret that could blow up everything the second it slips. Their relationship shifts from adversarial to something far more complicated, equal parts alliance and slow-burn tension, and it gives the show a second engine beyond "will Chad get caught."

Meanwhile, the football side of the story ramps up considerably. The Catfish's push toward the Playoff means bigger games, bigger crowds, and bigger consequences if Chad's cover slips mid-season instead of quietly. Gerry's suspicion of his mysterious teammate curdles into something closer to a personal vendetta, and Coach Hudson — who has no idea he's essentially coaching his own daughter's secret — becomes an unknowing pressure point in the drama.

Ricky's got a secret now too — Season 2 character art

"There's a lot more story to be told... if we get the privilege to make a second season, we have some fun stuff in mind." — Glen Powell, speaking before the Season 2 renewal was confirmed

Critically, the show has always had a bit of a split personality — critics gave Season 1 a fairly cool reception, while audiences ate it up, and that gap between "the reviews" and "the actual watch numbers" is a big part of why Hulu greenlit a second season in the first place. Season 2 leans into what audiences clearly liked: the goofy premise, the sports underdog energy, and Powell's committed, big-hearted performance as a man who has somehow convinced an entire football team he's someone else.

So... Is There a Season 3?

That said, the signs are pointing in a promising direction. Hulu has treated the show as an ongoing series rather than a one-and-done limited event from the start, both seasons have stuck to the same tight six-episode format (which makes another pickup logistically easy), and the story clearly isn't finished — Russ's double life is more precarious than ever, and the show's creators have talked openly about having a "beginning, middle, and end" mapped out for his arc, which strongly implies there's more runway left to burn.

Nothing is confirmed, and the honest answer is "we don't know yet." But between the strong audience numbers, the full cast returning intact, and a premise with plenty of gas left in the tank, a Season 3 renewal wouldn't be a surprise if the momentum holds.

Quick Recap: What's Actually Going On

Full Cast

Chad Powers Seasons 1 and 2 are both streaming now on Hulu (Disney+ internationally).