William Tanner

Biography
William Tanner was the history teacher at Mystic Falls High School as well as the coach of the school's varsity football team. He was a spiteful and cynical man, who held his students in low regard. Students who failed to pay attention irritated him, but students who seemed exceptionally bright bothered him even more. One student who earned Tanner's ire was Stefan Salvatore who embarassed him in class by correcting him on a question concerning the civilian casualties at the Battle of Willow Creek.

William Tanner also had little patience for members of the Gilbert family. He was aware that both Elena Gilbert and her younger brother Jeremy had lost their parents in a tragic automobile accident the previous Spring, but didn't believe that this earned them any kind of special treatment. Jeremy in particular proved to be a problem after skipping six classes over the course of three days. He called in the Gilberts' legal guardian, Jenna Sommers for a parent/teacher conference and outright accused her of being an unfit authority figure, suggesting that somebody else would be more equipped at handling Elena and Jeremy. Jenna told Elena about the conference to which Elena told her, "You've been Tannered".