Quarterback Mental Performance

Every quarterback gets coached on his throwing motion.
Almost none get coached on what happens after the pick.

Passmaker trains the part of the position that decides games. Pre-snap eyes. Decision speed. Composure. The response that comes after the mistake.

We are not a mechanics business. We work with your mechanics coach, not instead of him.

The failure does not define him.
His response does.

2x All-American QB National Champion Harlon Hill Trophy Winner NFL & NFL Europe Championship QB Coach & Coordinator P4 & G6 College Football Dad
Start with the Evaluation
Or call Coach Anes directly · 615.878.0029
The Lane

One job, done all the way.

Most quarterback training covers the throw. Almost nobody covers the thirty seconds after a bad one. That is the only thing we do, and we do it every week of the season.

We Train The Mental Game
  • Pre-snap picture and eye discipline
  • Decision speed and progression clock
  • Response after the mistake
  • Composure on third down and in the two minute
  • Huddle command and sideline presence
We Refer Mechanics & Arm Care
  • Throwing motion and release
  • Footwork and platform
  • Arm care and velocity work
  • Combine and camp prep
  • Ask me. I keep a list of coaches I trust.
We Fit Alongside Everyone Else
  • Works with your high school staff
  • Works with your private QB coach
  • Runs over video, so no field time is lost
  • Built for the fall, when everything else stops
  • No recruiting commission, ever

If your quarterback needs mechanics work, I will tell you and I will send you to someone good. That is not a courtesy. It is the point.

A football play lasts four seconds. The next snap comes about thirty seconds later. 
Everything that decides the next play happens in between.

The difference is not talent.
It is the response.

Why Passmaker Exists

Do the math on your football year.

1,000+ HRS
Preparation
~2.5HRS
Live Football
0HRS
Response Training

Adversity has a 100% participation rate. Every quarterback will face it. Not every quarterback is prepared for it.

The pick. The doubt. The competition. The expectations. The critics. The benching. The injury.

Who trains the young man who has to meet all of it and still call the next play?

That is the gap we close.

The Evidence

This is not a pep talk. It is a trainable skill.

The mental side of quarterback play gets talked about constantly and trained almost never. Here is what the research actually shows.

The NFL stopped measuring how smart he is.

Ahead of the 2022 combine the league retired the Wonderlic, long criticized for having little to do with what happens on the field. Teams moved toward evaluations built around processing speed, split second decision making, and impulse control. The question changed from how much does he know to how fast and how clean does he respond.

NFL combine testing changes, 2022

Pressure does not break the throw. It breaks the automatic.

Research on choking under pressure found that anxiety increases conscious monitoring of a well learned skill, which interrupts the automatic execution that made it good in the first place. The mechanics were never the problem in those moments. The attention was.

Beilock & Carr, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2001

Where the eyes settle protects him.

Studies of the quiet eye, the final steady fixation before an action, find that skilled performers hold it longer than everyone else. Training it appears to shield athletes from the effects of anxiety when the moment gets big. Eye discipline is not a personality trait. It is a rep.

Vickers; Vine & Wilson, Journal of Applied Sport Psychology

Replaying the mistake is what causes the second one.

Rumination keeps the analytical part of the brain switched on during the exact window when execution needs it quiet. Purposeful review after the game builds a player. Replaying it between snaps costs him the next series.

Sport psychology research on rumination and performance

Straight talk. Mental performance work is not magic. Reviews put the average effect in the moderate range, and none of it replaces an undertrained skill or a bad game plan. It is one lever. It happens to be the one almost nobody is pulling.

The Passmaker Method

Three things we build.

Read What He Sees

Pre-snap picture, coverage recognition, eye discipline, and the clock in his head. We grade the decision, not the result.

Reset The Thirty Seconds After

Breath, cue, next call. We script the failure on purpose and rehearse the response until it is automatic. Flush it and line up again.

Carry The Weight Of The Job

Huddle command, sideline presence, and the identity underneath it all. Eleven men read his face before they read the play.

  • Character outlasts talent.
  • Discipline outlasts emotion.
  • Adversity is a classroom, not a verdict.
  • Leaders are revealed by how they respond.
  • It is in the actions, not the speech.
The Coach
Curt Anes
Founder · Passmaker

Coach Anes played quarterback at Grand Valley State for Brian Kelly, five seasons under a coach who went on to lead Cincinnati, Notre Dame, and LSU. Under Kelly he won an NCAA National Championship, was a two time All-American, and won the Harlon Hill Trophy as the best player in the country. He played in the NFL and NFL Europe with the Detroit Lions, and called plays for a state championship program as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Page High School in Franklin, Tennessee.

Underneath the football is five years in pastoral ministry leading young men. That is the reason Passmaker trains the inner man and not just the position. It is built by a man of faith. It is never a filter at the door.

Everything we teach was first lived

Overlooked. Given an opportunity. Competed for the job.
Responded. Won.

Career ending injury. Told it was over.
Responded. National Champion. Harlon Hill Trophy winner. Professional quarterback.

Football ended. Identity questioned.
Responded. Pastor. Businessman. Championship coach. Husband. Father. Still climbing.

Not chapters in a biography. Chapters in a curriculum.

The Résumé
  • NCAA National Champion quarterback
  • Harlon Hill Trophy winner · Two time All-American
  • NFL & NFL Europe quarterback
  • Five seasons under Brian Kelly at Grand Valley State
  • State championship QB coach and coordinator, Page High School
  • Five years in pastoral ministry
  • P4 & G6 college football dad
Working Together

Everything runs over video.

No field time, no drive time, no scheduling around weather. He sends film, we get on video, he goes back to practice with one thing to work on. Prices are published because you should not have to ask.

Start Here

Film & Response Evaluation

$149
One game of film · written report · 45 minute call

I break down a full game and grade what nobody else grades. Decision speed, eye discipline, and how he responded to every bad play. Then an honest conversation with your family about where he really stands.

Every quarterback starts here. Credited in full toward Game Week.

In-Season Flagship The Work

Game Week

$450/mo
Weekly · month to month through the season

Every week I pull his game film, cut the plays that matter, and grade the response. Thirty minutes on video with him. One focus for the week. Text access on game week when he needs it.

Built for the fall, when mechanics training goes quiet.

Off-Season

Year-Round

$295/mo
Twice monthly · limited roster

The One-Play MENtality curriculum on a steady cadence. Practice and camp film when it exists. Leadership work, family checkpoints, and preparation for the season before it starts.

By evaluation only.

Want to start smaller?
Single video session, $95, for families who want to work with Coach Anes once before committing to anything.

The roster is intentionally small. When it is full we keep a waiting list, never a discount.

Send me one game of film.

I will tell you what I see in his decisions and his response, in writing, and then we will talk it through as a family. Credited in full if you move forward.

Get Started

Your son should not carry this alone.

One honest evaluation, then a straight conversation about the road ahead. If we are not the right fit, I will tell you that too.

I read every one of these myself. Expect a reply within 24 hours.

Reach Coach Anes Directly
Call or Text
Football families call. I answer.
Where We Meet
Video, anywhere
Based in greater Nashville. The work travels.
How We Work
Capped roster · Published pricing · We refer mechanics out · Honest even when it costs us