Arizona State Vice President for Athletics Steve Patterson accepted an offer to become the new athletic director at Texas this week, a move that will increase his annual salary by as much as threefold and return Patterson to his alma mater.

The decision, first reported by Orangebloods.com columnist Chip Brown and SportsIllustrated.com reporter Pete Thamel, came as a surprise to ASU officials, who repeatedly said in the last week Patterson told them he was not interested in leaving Tempe at this time.

ASU immediately named James Rund, ASU Senior Vice President for Educational Outreach and Student Services, as its interim athletic director and an executive search firm has been retained to identify a potential successor, ASUDevils.com has learned.

Additionally, the Arizona Republic reported Tuesday afternoon that in order for Patterson to be released to take the Texas job, he had to agree to not hire any ASU staffers.

Patterson, 55, has undergraduate and law degrees from Texas. Thamel reported he will get a raise from $450,000 to $1.4 million annually to replace DeLoss Dodds, who has served as the schools' chief athletics offers for 32 years and will retire in 2014.

ASU President Dr. Michael Crow released a statement following the announcement which indicated the school is on solid footing as it looks to hire a replacement.

"During his stay at ASU, Steve Patterson has positioned Sun Devil Athletics to continue its forward momentum well into the future," Crow said. "He first became involved with ASU three years ago to put the university's athletic department on a sound financial footing and that is exactly what he has done. I well understand his desire to return to his home state and wish him well at the University of Texas."

Initially hired by ASU as Chief Operating Officer for athletics in July of 2011, Patterson's charge was to spearhead the school's plan to renovate aging Sun Devil.

Following a challenged search to replace former football coach Dennis Erickson in December of 2011, then-Vice President for Athletics Lisa Love was ushered out of the department in favor of Patterson.

Patterson wasn't chiefly responsible for the hire of ASU coach Todd Graham -- that was as much the work of Crow and Texas-based search firm Eastman and Beaudine -- but he's been instrumental in overhauling the Sun Devil athletic department.

In less than two years since Patterson took over, the program has made dozens of new hires and significantly revamped many of its departments and updated its brand.

But Patterson's work on the Sun Devil Stadium renovation plans has been his biggest charge. He's overseen the creation of a 425-acre Sports Facilities District on ASU land adjacent to Tempe Town Lake and signed an agreement with anchor tenant State Farm to a deal that could eventually reap as much as $5 million annually.

The stadium district, coupled with other new revenue streams including the media rights money ASU will receive as a product of the Pac-12 Networks -- estimated by some to be as much as $20 million annually -- should boost an athletic department which made less than $70 million in the most recently completed fiscal year, far less than half of what Texas generated in the same period as one of the nation's most lucrative programs.

ASU's work on the stadium, which is set to begin at the conclusion of this season with the removal of nine upper level North end zone sections, is at a critical juncture from a fundraising standpoint, with Crow and Patterson working to secure naming rights and philanthropic donations that would allow their vision to be fully realized.

It's impossible to know how much ASU will be set back by Patterson's departure, the third time this century the program's head official has departed for greener pastures -- and balance sheets. Kevin White left ASU for Notre Dame in 2000 and Gene Smith departed for Ohio State in 2005.

Patterson told ASU officials close to him late last week he wanted to see the ASU stadium project through and would not be interested in the Texas job. It looked at the time as though Texas was leaning toward hiring West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck but Texas officials flew to the Phoenix-area to visit with Patterson Sunday and a deal was struck within 48 hours of that meeting.

Crow and the Sun Devils will look forward, and he said he believes the program is on solid footing.

"ASU's varsity teams rank high across the board in their achievements on the field of competition and in the classroom," Crow said in his statement. "With the opportunity to win Pac-12 and national championships and to renovate Sun Devil Stadium, the position of vice president of athletics at ASU will be attractive to a wide range of candidates across the country. We do not intend to slow our forward progress in the least and have appointed Senior Vice President James Rund as interim athletic director while we conduct a national search. Dr. Rund will be capably assisted by a staff of senior associate athletic directors who have been part of the ASU team from 10 to 30 years."