Canton, Texas ? A high school football coach who was shot and critically wounded — allegedly by the father of one of his players — had turned the team around in recent years, but his decisions ruffled some players and parents.

Cody Willis, a junior who played for Canton High School’s football team last year, said many people were jealous and critical when newly hired coach Gary Joe Kinne decided to name his son, freshman G.J. Kinne, starting quarterback.

“We thought, ‘The head coach coming in, he’s going to obviously put his son in.’ I thought it was bigheaded, but we realized that G.J. is a really good player,” he said.

Canton started playing better, too. In 2002, the year before Kinne’s arrival, Canton finished 3-7. His first season, the team improved to 8-4, including Canton’s first playoff win since 1964. In 2004, Canton finished 8-2.

However, Jeffrey Doyle Robertson seemed to hold a grudge against the team’s coaches; a relative said he believed the coaches were treating his son unfairly. He stomped onto the field last season when his son didn’t play in a freshman game and pushed an assistant coach at a preseason picnic last year, coaches said.

School officials banned him from events, and coaches said they thought the issue was resolved — until the shooting.

Authorities allege Robertson, 45, charged into the high school field house Thursday morning and shot Kinne in the chest with an automatic handgun. The coach remained in critical condition in a Tyler hospital Saturday.

After the shooting, Robertson allegedly fled the scene and slashed his wrists in a wooded area outside of town. He was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, punishable by two to 20 years in prison. He remained jailed on $1 million bond Saturday.

Police have said they don’t believe any one incident triggered the shooting. Robertson had a long reputation of being a hothead and starting fights, but he’d been quiet in recent months, police chief Mike Echols said.

But Rhonda Miller, a cousin of Robertson’s wife, said Friday that Robertson is a good family man driven to violence by an athletic department and school administration that wouldn’t act on his concerns.

Assistant football coach Howard Bell said Friday that football coaches at Canton High School became wary of Robertson after he threatened students he believed were picking on his son and pushed an assistant coach at a picnic when the coach tried to intervene.

“Obviously, he loved his son,” he said. “He was just overprotective. Everybody wants their kid to be a player, a star, but unfortunately, that just isn’t the way it is.”