Powell, 36, who also served as a co-writer and executive producer on the series, told the Globe in a Zoom interview last week that he and co-creator and executive producer Michael Waldron (“Loki,” “Heels”) didn’t want the show’s tone to be “binary.” Instead, they wanted to bring a mixture of emotions, drawing upon their passion for “great sports movies, the things that got us into this business in the first place.”
“A lot of things in Hollywood… I liken it to kids chasing each other on a soccer field: You’re just chasing heat. You’re trying to chase an idea, but it’s not coming from true fandom,” said Powell.
“We love movies that are at the same time hilarious, but also romantic and adventurous and thrilling and dramatic,” he added. “And that’s what was always sort of the north star. How can we have a program, something that can be escapist for the world, that can be fun, that can be light, but also really unexpectedly high quality, where we raise the bar at every level?”
Helping them raise the bar on the football side was former Super Bowl champion (and nemesis of Patriots fans) Eli Manning, an executive producer on the project along with his brother Peyton Manning and his Omaha Productions team. “Chad Powers” is an adaptation of a 2022 sketch from Omaha and ESPN featuring Eli, where he pulled a similar ruse, using prosthetics and a fake name to dupe coaches, players, and onlookers during a Penn State open tryout.
In the lead up to the show, the Manning brothers haven’t been shy about sharing their initial critiques of Powell’s throwing form. And on the flip side, Powell joked that he put the former Giants star “through a boot camp” to prep him for his brief cameo, quipping, “He’s now going to be one of our finest actors.”
“They were incredibly helpful. Their influence is all over the show,” Powell said. “And I gotta say, I’m very impressed with Eli’s performance.”
Although Holliday is a stud on the field, he comes across as an unlikeable bro: in the first episode, he hits rock bottom after partying with random strangers, including the internet celebrity, Hawk tuah girl. Searching for a path forward, he comes up with a scheme to trick his way onto the Catfish football team as mild-mannered Chad Powers. Despite being a total country bumpkin, people seem to like this alter ego, with Holliday getting help from Danny (Frankie A. Rodriguez), the team mascot, to keep up the charade.
“We’re a struggling program with no quarterback, and you kind of get gifted this star, but he’s a quirky, weird dude,” said Quentin Plair, who plays Coach Byrd, the team’s offensive coordinator. “You got to deal with some of that, but you’re also winning, and that’s something new, at least recently, for the South Georgia Catfish.”
It’s fair to say that Holliday/Powers is the antithesis to the golden boy image of a football star like Tom Brady, with Powell even admitting that “Brady’s more handsome than Chad.”
“He’s definitely taller,” Powell said. “I’ve met Tom Brady. He’s massive.”
And if Powers is the anti-Brady, then Steve Zahn’s character, Catfish head coach Jake Hudson, is likely the opposite of Bill Belichick, with Powell and Zahn agreeing that Hudson is a “better dresser” and “nicer” than the former Patriots head coach (although Powell conceded that Brady and Belichick “have more rings” than their fictional quarterback-coach tandem).
“I was taking pieces of coaches, like [Jon] Gruden, he’s a great example of just [someone] like really heavy but also funny,” Zahn said of the coaches he looked to for inspiration, adding that he also turned to his friend Mark Stoops, who coaches the University of Kentucky.
“Chad Powers” offers plenty to enjoy for college football fans, with powerhouse programs like Ole Miss and others appearing as Catfish opponents, and familiar faces such as prolific Boston sportscaster Sean McDonough popping up in the show’s broadcast booth. But beyond the action on the field, the series also touches on the behind the scenes drama and big business of college football.
Wynn Everett, who plays the team’s rich benefactor Tricia, said that she got in touch with a friend who works with University of Georgia boosters to learn more about what went into helping football programs raise funds.
“I didn’t know the world of boosters and the money and the things that need to be raised, and how we keep the university going and the sports program going,” Everett said, noting how her hard-nosed character cares for the group and wants “to see this team win for once in her life.”
Zahn likens today’s experience of running a college football team to being a “CEO of a company,” with Powell adding that the rise of name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals has added to “this weird moment in college football.”
“You have to navigate all this stuff and the world’s changing, and if you don’t evolve, you’re out,” said Powell. “If you lose quarterbacks to the transfer portal, that’s a very real thing, your program is dead, right? And that’s the anxiety and paranoia that’s happening around these programs.”
For the cast of “Chad Powers,” it was more than just the football drama that attracted them to the series, as its scripts balanced laughs with heart.
“When I read it, it was like, one of the funniest scripts I’d ever read,” said Perry Mattfeld, who plays the head coach’s daughter, Ricky. “But I did cry multiple times watching the show through, so that totally surprised me.”
And as a show about college football bros, it often surprises with its humor, with season 1 featuring a number of musical moments, including a “Phantom of the Opera” homage.
“I had no idea that was happening, and I was already enjoying how the score and the music to the show really add another layer of storytelling,” said Rodriguez.
Overall, Powell sees “Chad Powers” as a relatable story about people trying to find redemption.
“It’s always a character that you root for, people that are just trying to be better,” Powell said. “Broken people that are getting together to try to win a championship — who doesn’t want to see that?”
“Chad Powers” premieres Tuesday on Hulu.