TEMPE, Ariz. -- Former NFL executive Ray Anderson will be named Arizona State's vice president for athletics, a person familiar with his hiring told The Associated Press.

Anderson will be introduced as Arizona State's athletic director Thursday, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because no official announcement has been made.

Anderson will replace Steve Patterson, who left Arizona State in November to become the athletic director at the University of Texas.

Anderson spent eight seasons as the NFL's executive vice president of football operations before deciding to leave last month to pursue other opportunities.

"Ray's wide-ranging experience in football has played an important role in our football operations," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said when Anderson announced he was leaving the league. "Ray has been a strong contributor, always focusing on our key priorities. His engaging personality helped smooth the edges of many a difficult issue. We appreciate Ray's contributions and know he will be successful in his next venture."

Before joining the NFL, Anderson served four years as an executive for the Atlanta Falcons, and before that, he owned his own sports agency, AR Sports, which merged with Octagon in 2001.

Anderson started his career as litigation attorney in Atlanta after earning a law degree at Harvard and playing both football and baseball at Stanford.

Part of his duties at Arizona State will be overseeing renovations to Sun Devil Stadium and development of an athletic district that will raise funds for large projects at the university.