What exactly was the plan?

As I'm watching season 7, I'm reminded again of a question I had when I read the manga. What exactly was their plan to beat Shigaraki? In the end, the answer was attacking his soul, but prior to that, what? Deku had the raw power to beat Shigaraki, but wasn't planning on killing him, so what? Make him pass out then lock him up? Just keep talking to him and hope he changes?

What exactly did the rest of the cast know about Deku vs. Shigaraki? Was it just "deku will fight shigaraki and win somehow". But did they know deku didn't plan to kill shigaraki and had no real idea on how to beat him?