• Glen Powell as Russ Holliday, an arrogant former college football quarterback whose career has been nuked after disgracing himself in a championship game. He disguises himself as the titular Chad Powers to start over as a walk-on player for a college team.^[2]
• Perry Mattfeld as Ricky Hudson, the offensive assistant coach of the South Georgia Catfish and Jake's daughter
• Quentin Plair as Coach Byrd
• Wynn Everett as Tricia,^[2] the chair of the booster trust
• Frankie Rodriguez as Danny, the team's mascot who helps Russ with his disguise
• Steve Zahn as Jake Hudson, the head coach of the South Georgia Catfish

• Toby Huss as Mike Holliday^[3]
• Clayne Crawford as Coach Dobbs,^[3] the quarterback coach of the South Georgia Catfish
• Colton Ryan as Gerry^[3]
• Keese Wilson as Rod
• Xavier Mills as Nishan^[3]

• Haliey Welch as herself
• Eli Manning as Ole Miss Coach
• Megan Ketch as Wendy, wife of Jake Hudson^[4]

Chad Powers ranked No. 1 on both Disney+ and Hulu's top lists—daily updated lists of the platforms' most-watched titles—following its premiere.^[13] TVision, which tracks viewer attention, program reach, and engagement across more than 1,000 CTV apps, reported that it was the fourth most-streamed program in the U.S. between September 29 and October 12.^[14][15] Whip Media, which tracks viewership data for the more than 25 million worldwide users of its TV Time app, announced that Chad Powers ranked among the ten most-streamed original shows in the U.S. from the week ending October 12 through October 19.^[16][17] Luminate, which measures streaming performance in the U.S. by analyzing viewership data, audience engagement metrics, and content reach across various platforms, announced that it debuted at No. 34 on its Top 50 streaming shows with nearly 1.6 million hours viewed from a single episode. The following week, Chad Powers rose to No. 19 with 2.2 million hours viewed across two episodes, and it remained on Luminate's weekly chart throughout its six-episode run.^[18][19]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 58% based on 48 reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Pairing Glen Powell's charms with a frequently off-putting role, Chad Powers throws comedic curveballs that often backfire but don't necessarily strike out, either."^[20] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, gave a score of 53 out of 100 based on 26 critics, indicating "mixed or average".^[21]

Stuart Heritage of The Guardian awarded 4 out of 5 stars to season one, with praise for Powell's performance and the show's exploration of identity.^[22] Heritage wrote: "It's a funny, touching, deliberately uncomfortable character piece with one of the most magnetic central performances in recent memory." Alex Kirshner of Slate viewed the show as successfully balancing absurdity and humor, while building a fictional college football world that feels engaging despite its implausible premise.^[23]

In a mostly negative review for Vulture, critic Nicholas Quah described the show as largely "a cynical corporate experiment, engineered within an inch of its life", while noting that the show occasionally breaks through with flashes of heart and Powell's charisma.^[24] Alison Herman of Variety wrote that the season felt rushed, without time to fully develop or explore the dynamics between characters, particularly the relationship between Russ and his father.^[25] Herman also found that while Chad Powers shares tonal and structural similarities with Ted Lasso, it lacks the depth and emotional development that contributed to Ted Lasso's resonance.^[26]