TOLONO — The lights shined bright under the night sky on Tuesday at Hicks Field.
With Unity football assistant coach Mitch Negangard scrambling while serving as a scout-team quarterback, Dave Fink stood behind on the turf as the play unfolded just past midfield.
Neganagard, a former standout fullback and linebacker with the Rockets in the early 2010s, was giving the Rockets’ defense a look at what they might see on Saturday from Monticello dual-threat quarterback Nolan Buehnerkemper.
Fink approved of how Unity’s defense handled this particular sequence, with practice drawing to a conclusion soon after.
Because it’s November and because he coaches at Unity, these moments have unfolded hundreds of times during Fink’s stint on the Unity coaching staff. A job he started in 1997. But one he won’t hold for much longer.
The 55-year-old Fink, who is also the science department chair at Unity High School, is retiring at the end of the school year.
“I’m at that age,” Fink said with a smile after practice this week. “I’ve coached one sport or another since the fall of 1991, and I’m getting pretty tired.”
Negotiations, however, are ongoing to have Fink help out the Rockets during the 2026 season, albeit in a smaller, volunteer role. It’s a conversation Fink and first-year Unity coach Tony Reetz, who had served as a Unity assistant coach since 2004 before replacing Scott Hamilton prior to the 2025 season, will have next spring.
“We’re not going to make any decision now,” Fink said.
For now, Fink and the rest of the Rockets (9-1) are focused on Monticello (8-2). The two nearby Illini Prairie Conference schools write another chapter in their rivalry at 2 p.m. Saturday in a Class 3A second-round playoff game at Hicks Field.
“Definitely a lot of emotions coming from last year of them beating us,” Unity senior defensive end Coleton Langendorf said. “We’ve got to come out on Saturday and take it to them.”
The Sages outlasted the Rockets 23-20 last season in a 3A state semifinal game, sending Monticello to its second state championship game in program history.
Unity cruised past Monticello 34-7 earlier this season on Sept. 5 in Monticello, but Fink knows the Sages are improved since then and fellow Hall of Fame coach Cully Welter will have a plethora of plays designed for his Monticello offense to confuse Unity’s defense on Saturday.
“This is a team you want to play,” Fink said. “Whenever we talk about wanting to make a long run, you have to play well against teams like this that are unbelievably well-coached. It’s difficult to prepare for them with all the shifts, all the motions and all the formations. They’re precise with everything they do and every movement has a purpose, but it’s exactly what you want this time of year in the playoffs.”
Unity has reached six state championship games, finishing second all six times, since 2000. A constant in all of those state title game appearances? Fink, who, like Hamilton, is a fellow Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame member after Fink was inducted in 2023.
The relationships he’s formed with his fellow coaches through the years stands out to Fink.
“I’m pretty fortunate that I’ve gotten to coach with all of my best friends like Scott, Tony and a whole lot of other people I’ve been with a long time,” Fink said. “It’s been fantastic.”
The feeling is mutual among his players. Langendorf, who has a team-high 10 sacks, and senior linebacker Caden Hensch, second on the Rockets with 59 tackles, are glad they’ve played for Fink.
“He’s a very outspoken guy sometimes, but when it comes to football, he’s the coach you want to have,” Langendorf said. “He can get on you, but he’s a nice guy at heart. He just teaches you how to play football.”
Hensch agreed.
“He’s very detail-oriented,” Hensch said. “He’s big on making sure we’re perfect in practice so we’re perfect on a Friday night or a Saturday afternoon. He supports us. He’ll get on us, but it’s not because he doesn’t like you. It’s because he sees you can be better, and he wants you to be the best player you possibly can be.”
Unity has compiled a 273-69 record in the 29 seasons with Fink on the coaching staff.
“When I got here, what stood out was just the intensity with the way he coaches,” Reetz said. “I hope he sticks around after this season to help bring some of the younger coaches we have along because he’s got such an eye for the game.”
Fink understands playing defense a high level like Unity has done for decades requires extra effort from his players. One he helps nurture.
“We’ve got a great group of kids who make it fun to be here,” Fink said. “I think it was Vince Lombardi who said, ‘Nothing great was ever accomplished without enthusiasm.’ Luckily, the defensive guys are very enthusiastic. They’re loud and boisterous.”
The only item missing from Fink’s coaching career is something the Rockets have always chased. A state title.
“It would be fantastic to get that, but right now, beating Monticello is the focus,” Fink said. “Anybody can look at a bracket and see teams you could likely play if you continue to win. There are really good teams left, and there’s no way we’re going to look past a team like Monticello.”