Among his ties to the Big Ten is membership of the search committee that led to the hiring of University of Minnesota athletic director Mark Coyle.
"He's obviously done a great job with the Vikings, we look foward to working with him and know he'll do great things for our conference," Coyle told Dave Lee on the WCCO Morning News.
Warren will become the first African-American commissioner of one of the so-called Power-Five conferences.
Long-time Big Ten commissioner Jim Delaney is stepping down in June of next year.
Delaney has held that position since 1989.
"Commissioner Delaney has done a phenominal job in making sure everybody in the conference understands that 14 are stronger than one," said Coyle. "He's had a huge impact on hundreds of thousands of athletes, and fans, and coaches. He'll be deeply missed in the Big Ten."
A news conference to announce Warren's appointment is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. Tuesday suburban Chicago.