5th in the SEC is not top third. That 2006 class were just sophomores in Saban's first year. The bulk of the team was made up of recruiting classes that were 5th and 6th in a then 12-team SEC. Those aren't exactly national title-caliber classes. They were mid-level, perhaps a smidge better than mid-level, within his own conference. He almost won a national title with those guys.
29-9 against AP top 10 teams according to
@bamawriter. A top 10 team is a pretty good approximation of a team that has enough talent to compete, and he has beaten those teams 76% of the time.
I don't understand the point of that argument anyway. What else is he supposed to do - intentionally recruit less-talented guys and win with them to prove he can outscheme people too? Recruiting is the lifeblood of college football. If you stink at recruiting, either on a relative or absolute basis, you aren't going to meet or exceed anyone's expectations. You talk about recruiting as if it is something he does to bail out the fact that he is an average coach.
I have no way to prove this, but I can envision Saban winning national titles, or at least SEC titles, with Tennessee's 2015 and 2016 teams. Even Butch, as flawed as he was, was a couple plays away from 10-2 with that 2015 team. He's an incredible recruiter, the best the sport has ever seen, an incredible developer of talent, and at least relative to other college coaches a great gameday coach.