The air conditioner repairman talked about people he wanted to harm. Two years ago at a rural East Texas high school, he crossed football coach Gary Joe Kinne off that list by shooting him in the gut.

That was when son G.J. Kinne Jr., likely the only quarterback the Texas Longhorns will add Wednesday during National Signing Day, became a sympathetic small-town kid whose dad was almost killed over football. Leading Canton High School to its best season eight months later made him a local icon.

But two years after the shooting, Kinne is leaving high school knowing some have a much different view of him.

"I didn't really ever know how many jealous people there were," he said.

Kinne, a two-time AP offensive player of the year in Texas and gifted pocket passer, is aware of the comments: That he's brash, untrue to his word and, perhaps worst, someone who practically took advantage of his dad getting shot.

Not to mention the speculation about his dad, who left Canton last year to become an assistant coach at Baylor -- where G.J. was verbally committed before the Longhorns made an offer.

The perceptions frustrate his coaches and the elder Kinne, who say the 18-year-old has endured amazingly well for a teenager whose dad was the victim in a high-profile shooting that further ingrained stereotypes about Texas and its almost religious passion toward football.

Coaches and family also point out that G.J. had to switch high schools only after being allegedly physically threatened in Canton when Kinne's shooter was convicted. Said G.J., "I needed to go somewhere safe."

"You don't need to tell me how big football is here," said Jeff Traylor, head coach at Gilmer High School where Kinne transferred. "But people don't think about the fact that he was just 17 years old. He's a good kid. He never deserved any of this."

The talk began after Kinne transferred to Gilmer shortly after his dad -- who made G.J. the starting Canton quarterback as a freshman -- left for Baylor.

Two rival high schools protested the transfer on grounds that the move was purely for athletic reasons, which is not allowed in Texas. Gilmer is among the state's best Class 3A schools, having won the Class 3A title in 2004. Canton had made the playoffs only once before the Kinnes arrived.

Traylor figures 90 percent of the media calls he took this year were about the circumstances of Kinne's move. Then came December, when Kinne reneged on a summer verbal commitment to Baylor and switched to the Longhorns after backup quarterback Jevan Snead left Texas for Ole Miss.

Baylor Internet message boards skewered Kinne for switching so late in the recruiting season. Kinne says he always had his eye on Texas but wasn't offered a scholarship until another quarterback the Longhorns wanted committed to Florida.

"Baylor is a great school for a lot of people, but it's not for me," said Kinne, whose mom lives in Gilmer.

Kinne won't be the star of Texas coach Mack Brown's latest sterling recruiting class, which is expected to be among the best in the country. Kinne won't even be Texas' top grab from rural Gilmer; defensive back Curtis Brown is ranked among the Top 25 players in the nation by Internet recruiting analysts at Rivals.com.

But behind Texarkana's Ryan Mallett, who is expected to sign with Michigan, Kinne is the state's top quarterback prospect. He threw for nearly than 3,000 yards and had 42 touchdowns his senior year. By his count, he had offers from more than 30 colleges.

The switch to Texas surprised many who thought G.J. would stick to playing with his dad, who made the rare leap from small Class 3A high school to the Big 12 last year after returning from his gunshot wound. After leaving Canton, Kinne criticized the school district for not promoting one of his assistants.

Kinne's shooter was Jeff Doyal Robertson, who Canton residents say was a notoriously hotheaded and protective father whose son played for Kinne. Robertson was convicted of aggravated assault and is serving a 10-year sentence, though Kinne says he still doesn't know what sparked the shooting.

Rumors of Kinne leaving Baylor flourished after his son changed his commitment, but Kinne said he intends to be at Baylor next season. Kinne, who said NCAA rules prevent him from talking about his son's college decision before he signs, said his son's high school experience is hardly what a father would have in mind.

"I'm proud of how he's handled everything," Kinne said. "He never really let any of this get to him."

G.J. hopes to redshirt at Texas, where he says a national championship and maybe a Heisman Trophy will help him forge an identity other than "the son of that coach who got shot."

"You come to a point where you don't care anymore what people think," G.J. said. "You don't like to hear people talking bad about you and your family, but you move on. And I am."