Former NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Ray Anderson is expected to be named Arizona State's next Vice President for Athletics Thursday, as first reported by ASUDevils.com.
ASUDevils.com first reported that a press conference was expected at 11:30 pm MST where a formal hiring announcement would be made before confirming with sources that Anderson was the man for the job.
Anderson announced he was stepping from down from his NFL job on Dec. 11, sharing that he feels "the time is right for me to evolve into the next phase of my career." Anderson had been with the league office since August of 2006. Before that, he has spent four years as the Atlanta Falcons' executive vice president and chief administrative officer.
According to ASUDevils.com, Anderson was the only person offered Arizona State's Vice President for Athletics opening, which was vacated by Steve Patterson after he left to take on the same role at the University of Texas.
Here's more on Anderson's background from NFL.com:
A native of Los Angeles and a three-year football letterman at Stanford, Anderson played both football and baseball at the school, earning a political science degree in 1976. In 1979, he graduated from Harvard Law School and began his professional career as an attorney at Kilpatrick & Cody in Atlanta, working primarily in labor law litigation. In 1987 he launched his own sports agency, AR Sports, specializing in the representation of NFL coaches and players. AR Sports merged with Octagon in 2001.
ASU Senior Vice President James Rund had been serving as interim athletic director since Patterson was hired on by Texas.
Anderson will be Arizona State's seventh athletic director since 2000. That list includes Kevin White (1996-2000), Christine Wilkinson (interim 2000 & 2005), Gene Smith (2000-2005), Lisa Love (2005-2012), Patterson (2012-2013) and Rund (interim 2013-2014).
There will be more on this story as it continues to develop but for now, how do you feel about this hire, Arizona State fans?