BLOOMINGTON —  Athletic director Scott Dolson was at peace for the first time in nearly two weeks while accompanying Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti to his postgame news conference at Ross-Ade Stadium after a 56-3 win over Purdue on Nov. 28.Dolson, who freely admits to getting “amped” leading up to games, was more anxious than normal with IU heading out to West Lafayette looking to clinch its first perfect season and a trip to the Big Ten title game.He had a hard time sitting down in the visiting AD’s suite with his mind running through various worst-case scenarios for a No. 2 Hoosiers team favored by four touchdowns.The administrator has spent nearly his entire adult life working for the betterment of the athletic department as a former student manger for Bob Knight who started working for the Varsity Club less than a year after graduating from Indiana.Dolson’s informed historical perspective gave him a unique understanding of what a win would mean for IU’s long-suffering fanbase and a locker room that was described in a pregame speech by one of the players as a bunch of “misfits.”He even traced his concern to being in the stands at Memorial Stadium in 1989 — the last Old Oaken Bucket game he attended as a student — for one of Indiana’s most heartbreaking losses in the series.Not only did the 15-14 defeat keep the Hoosiers from playing in a bowl game, it likely cost running back Anthony Thompson a shot at the Heisman Trophy. The emotions from that defeat for the ’89 team are as fresh as they were on the day they walked off the field, and he didn’t want IU’s current roster experiencing the same thing “Obviously, two different eras, but there was so much riding on that game,” Dolson said. “I’ve become so close with Anthony, and I kept reflecting back to that. I just wanted to play well, for the whole program, for coach Cig and the players.”Indiana eased Dolson’s worries with a statement win that rivaled the most lopsided games in history of the Bucket game. The Hoosiers were up 28-3 at the half and Purdue only threatened to score once the entire game.Dolson walked into Cignetti’s press conference clutching the game ball entrusted to him by the team to keep safe.He still hasn’t let it go. “We’re going to put it in our archives. We’ll probably get it painted with something on it, but I might put it in my office for a little while first,” Dolson said with a laugh. “I just want everyone to see it.” IU football coach Curt Cignetti’s success goes beyond record-setting win total Dolson’s trips to the grocery stores in recent months are more lively than they used to be. He frequently gets stopped by IU fans buzzing with excitement about the football program.There are generations of fans, plural, who haven’t witnessed success like this on the gridiron. The program’s best years came decades ago. The first was an undefeated season in 1945 just after World War II ended, and the other was the 1967 team’s trip to Pasadena.Indiana has won more games (22) over the past two seasons than any other two-year span in history, has the longest active home winning streak in the FBS (a program record 15 games) and twice broke the record for most wins in a single season.The Hoosiers are all but guaranteed to reach the College Football Playoff for a second straight year and will likely get a bye this season through to the quarterfinals.“It’s so much fun, they come up and ask, ‘Did you ever think we’d be doing this?’” Dolson said. “We’ve had a loyal, loyal base for a long time, and one of the great things about our accomplishments over the last two seasons is seeing them get a nice reward for all those times they’ve been with us through thick and thin.”Their joy is a sign of Cignetti’s success that isn’t measured in the win column. It’s what Dolson envisioned for the program when he first hired the then 62-year-old coach who came to Bloomington with a plan and bold vision to wake up the largest alumni base in the country.“I never think about what if we can get this many wins, or anything like that,” Dolson said of measuring a new coach’s success. “I really wanted the fans to immediately feel a difference and have confidence in the program and to have hope. Hope is a big word we use around here. If you have confidence and hope, you have momentum.”Dolson is willing to admit he didn’t anticipate the program would immediately become what Cignetti likes to call an “emerging superpower.” “It’s been off the charts,” Dolson said.Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson celebrates the faces of football team’s historic successDolson makes his way down to the field each week and watches the final minutes of each IU game alongside university president Pam Whitten.Not a week goes by without a member of the football team offering him an enthusiastic greeting as they walk into the locker room.“That’s my guy,” Elijah Sarratt said as he walked off the field after a recent win while embracing Dolson with a hug.After Indiana won the Old Oaken Bucket, linebacker Aiden Fisher had a pre-mapped sequence in his head for celebrating that involved sharing a moment at midfield with Cignetti and his teammates then bringing the trophy over to Dolson and Whitten.That familiarity stems from Dolson making a point of being a visible presence and available to student-athletes across the department despite a busy schedule.“It’s important for them to feel the support of the department, starting with me,” Dolson said. “I want them to know we care about them as people, it’s not transactional. And probably because of the changes in college athletics, I’ve even re-emphasized that. I don’t want anyone to think we are just buying players. I want them to feel like we care and we believe in them.”Sometimes it’s small things like just heading down to the practice field as the team wraps up. He also makes a point to introduce to players on recruiting visits whether they are high school prospects or transfers.When schedules allow, he will even invite players up to his office for lunch. He had one such sit down earlier this fall with Notre Dame transfer offensive lineman Pat Coogan and Wisconsin tight end transfer Riley Nowakowski, and a meal from Smokin’ Jack’s.“It was awesome,” Dolson said. “We just sat and talked about their experience in college athletics, their experience coming from other schools, what it’s been like here, what are some of the things we do well, what are some things we can do better. It was fascinating, I think I got more out of it than they did.”Seeing the disappointed faces in the locker room during IU’s lean years — sometimes on a near weekly basis — was hard to stomach for Dolson.“It should be fun,” Dolson said. “There’s nothing like seeing them work really, really hard and see the positive results of that. It’s been one of my favorite parts of all this, honestly.”Want more Hoosiers coverage? Sign up for IndyStar’s Hoosiers newsletter. Listen to Mind Your Banners, our IU Athletics-centric podcast, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Watch the latest on IndyStar TV: Hoosiers.This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Curt Cignetti and Indiana football history, athletic director Scott Dolson’s hope