What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedChad Powers
Michael Waldron · Series · 2025
If you loved Chad Powers, start with Deep Cover (2025) — a film on the same thread. Below: 4 books, 4 films and 2 podcasts, each matched to Chad Powers across media.
What hooked you in Chad Powers is the way an absurd, high-stakes charade allows a disgraced protagonist to confront their own past.
Books on the same thread
The Country Road Murders
James Patterson, Mike Lupica · Book · 2026
Explores: hometown secrets, athletic legacy, justice.
Like Chad Powers, this story centers on an athlete grappling with the weight of a legacy and the pressure to succeed in a small-town environment defined by sports.
The Squad
Christina Soontornvat · Book
Explores: team dynamics, peer pressure, ambition.
If you enjoyed the team-focused underdog narrative of Chad Powers, you will appreciate how this story navigates the personal stakes and peer dynamics that define competitive athletic dreams.
Under the Falls
Richard Russo · Book · 2026
Explores: Secrets and betrayals, Return to hometown, Generational trauma.
Much like the small-town backdrop of Chad Powers, this narrative uses a localized setting to peel back layers of secrets, revealing how the past constantly informs the present.
Football
Chuck Klosterman · Book
Explores: National identity, Pop culture analysis, Societal impact.
If Chad Powers made you consider the deeper cultural footprint of football, this analysis provides the sociological context for the American obsession that drives those fictional dreams of glory.
Films on the same thread
Roofman
Derek Cianfrance · Film · 2025
Shares 2 threads with Chad Powers: Redemption, Second Chances.
This film mirrors the redemption arc of Chad Powers by following a man who adopts a bizarre persona to navigate his failures and attempt a second chance at life.
Little Brother
Film · 2026
Explores: Sibling Dynamics, Personal Growth, Life Disruption.
The chaotic life disruption seen in Chad Powers is echoed here, where a carefully constructed existence is thrown into disarray by an unexpected presence that forces personal growth.
Deep Cover
Film · 2025
Explores: Impostor syndrome, Identity performance, Undercover operations.
You will recognize the thrill of the impostor premise from Chad Powers, as this story explores the tension and comedy inherent in performing a role to achieve success.
Never Change!
Film · 2026
Explores: Arrested development, Small-town malaise, Unfinished business.
Like Chad Powers, this film captures the specific malaise of returning home to confront unfinished business, using the lens of a bizarre situation to facilitate a necessary transformation.
Podcasts on the same thread
Stugotz and Company
iHeartPodcasts · Podcast · 2026
Explores: absurdism, unfiltered opinion, camaraderie.
If the satirical edge of Chad Powers resonated with you, this podcast provides that same blend of sports culture and absurdity, delivered with an unfiltered and irreverent comedic sensibility.
Crime in Sports
James Pietragallo, Jimmie Whisman · Podcast · 2026
Explores: athlete misconduct, legal absurdity, scandalous behavior.
This podcast shares the dark humor and sports-centric focus of Chad Powers, exploring the messy, real-world consequences that occur when athletes deviate from their expected paths to success.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is Chad Powers based on a true story?
Chad Powers is a fictional television series created by Michael Waldron. It follows the story of Russ Holliday, a former college quarterback who attempts to revive his football career by disguising himself as an eccentric walk-on player for the South Georgia Catfish.
What is the premise of Chad Powers?
The show follows Russ Holliday, whose college football career was ruined by a mistake eight years prior. To get back into the game, he creates the persona of Chad Powers, an oddball athlete who joins the struggling South Georgia Catfish football team as a walk-on.
Who is the main character in Chad Powers?
The main character is Russ Holliday. He adopts the disguise of Chad Powers to infiltrate the South Georgia Catfish football team after his own career was derailed by a significant mistake eight years earlier.
Why does Russ Holliday disguise himself in Chad Powers?
Russ Holliday disguises himself as Chad Powers because his own promising college football career was destroyed by an unforgivable mistake. By appearing as a talented oddball, he attempts to resurrect his dreams of playing football by walking on to the struggling South Georgia Catfish.