This is really an interesting conversation and I appreciate your thoughtfulness and intellect. Here is the best illustration that I can create. Saban is Fulmer, with the ability to consistently draw the best talent in the SEC. When Fulmer had top talent, he won a ton of games, but he even dropped one or two he shouldn't have (think Memphis). Fulmer's decline was directly related to his wild swings in recruiting that came about due to other coaches who rose up and took away his fertile recruiting beds.
Saban lives by talent, not by scheme. Eventually a coach will come along that can match his talent, and run a scheme that defeats his style of defensive play. You have seen flashes of that from Meyer, Sumlin, Spurrier, Chizik/Malzahn. That is the answer, but too often guys like Petrino who run a system that is very powerful, forget that you need increasingly better players. That is why people think the spread or read option fails. No team runs that system who out-recruits Saban, or even recruits near him. Auburn is the closest in terms of raw talent. It will be interesting to see how Saban handles Auburn this year.
So yes, what Saban is doing IS good coaching. There are coaches who could be given similar talent and not win nearly as many games (Brown, Kiff, Chizik, Muschamp). My hypothesis, however, is that there are probably three or four times as many who could be given Saban's roster and do what he is doing (if recruiting wasn't a part of their job requirement).
