Nate Feltman: Dolson-Cignetti partnership is rewriting IU football history

This week, Indiana University announced it now has the largest living alumni base in the country—just more than 805,000 graduates. For many, engagement after graduation means following IU’s success on the basketball court or football field. And for most IU grads (myself included), hopes for athletic glory have long rested with basketball.

Football, meanwhile, has offered only fleeting moments of promise. IU has lost more football games than any other major college program.

The story of what some are already calling the greatest turnaround in college sports history is still being written. IU rocketed to No. 3 in this week’s AP Poll—its highest ranking ever—and sits squarely in the national conversation. Hoosier fans know to take it one game at a time, but how fun it is to dream of football glory! IU’s last Top 5 ranking came in 1967, the year it lost to O.J. Simpson’s USC team in the Rose Bowl.

What’s clear under second-year coach Curt Cignetti—after this year’s 6-0 start and last season’s 11-2 campaign that included a College Football Playoff berth—is that IU has found the formula for football success in a new era of college sports. That success can be traced to two men: Athletic Director Scott Dolson and coach Cignetti. Dolson’s decision to hire Cignetti will go down as the most transformative move in IU athletic history.

When Dolson became AD in 2020, he inherited a program showing promise under Coach Tom Allen, highlighted by a 6-1 COVID-shortened season. But IU quickly reverted to the norm, finishing 3-9 in 2023. Allen was dismissed, and Dolson led the search for a new coach. This is where his genius emerged.

The era of the transfer portal, NIL and Big Ten expansion had changed everything. Dolson recognized that the coaching pedigree of the past wouldn’t necessarily work in this new world (just ask North Carolina how that Belichick hire is going). Success now required fundraising—and a coach who could identify talent quickly, bring players with him and build culture fast. Dolson saw what others did not. And he had the backing of IU President Pam Whitten, a self-confessed sports fanatic.

Enter Cignetti: charismatic, blunt, disciplined, no-nonsense and confident—a proven winner with an eye for talent others had overlooked. Within days of arriving in Bloomington, after being asked how he planned to turn IU around, Cignetti famously replied, “It’s pretty simple. I win. Google me.”

That swagger surely reminded Dolson of another coach in a red sweater known for tossing a chair across the Assembly Hall floor. Dolson served as a student manager for Bobby Knight.

Cignetti immediately overhauled the culture, rooting it in accountability and belief. He didn’t talk about rebuilding; he talked about winning—now. He rebuilt the roster through the portal and recruiting, prioritizing experience and competitiveness. He reintroduced discipline, standards and excellence.

What’s happening on the football field mirrors a broader resurgence across Indiana University. Under President Whitten and her leadership team, IU has emphasized student success, research and innovation, and service to the state. The energy surrounding IU athletics has become an extension of that vision—showing what’s possible when bold leadership meets belief.

The Dolson–Cignetti partnership is far from complete, but it already stands as a case study in modern leadership. In a sport built on tradition, IU’s resurgence proves that history doesn’t have to define destiny. With the right leadership, even the losingest program in college football can rewrite its story.•

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Feltman is CEO of IBJ Media and publisher of IBJ.