re: Are the best athletes on the field?

Ideally you want the best athletes who are also able to understand and execute the scheme/gameplan. Unfortunately, that rarely is the case. And that's what separates average coaches from great coaches.

What good is a great athlete if he doesn't know how to play or what he's doing? On the flip-side, what good is a great scheme/approach if your players can't execute it.

Great coaches look at their personnel and design a plan/scheme that fits their strengths. It may not be the preferred scheme/approach of the coach. It may not even be the same approach he uses next year. But it is what gives his talent the best chance to execute well.

What I'm seeing is a coaching staff that has a plan/scheme they want to run and are only willing to play the guys who they feel can understand it...even if they aren't good enough to execute it. You're seeing the result.

A good coach would say "this is what I WANT to do, but I don't quite have the guys to do it. So for this season I'm going to do what best fits my guys. It may not be perfect. It may not be what I want to do next year. But for now that is what we are going to do."