Riding the running game probably results in a W, I agree. Saban has veto authority on things and could have put his foot down at any point and said "we're running it". he didn't, so you can't put the blame solely on the OC. Also, if players execute (even if that means throwing the ball away) then it's a non-issue.

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If not for the onside kick

Yeah, but they got the onside kick. You could say "if not for" for any game and any team (including "if not for Bama saying 'screw it, Clemson. you can score, but just not too quickly" late in the 4th quarter of the title game). Also, the game was tied at the time of the onside kick. It's not a given who wins or loses with a deep kickoff.

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the Hail Mary

I don't think you know what this is. A play design for a TE to break open down the right side line behind a defense that is expecting WR screen b/c you've run that 100 times in 2 years and have perfectly set up said play to TE, is NOT a Hail Mary. A Hail Mary is a desperate heave to the end zone into a crowd of defenders and WRs in hopes of something good happening. That didn't happen for either side in the Title Game.

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His daddy propped him up as long as he could, and he was fortunate to have been able to work under some great coaches.

He's trading on his own resume at this point. He's produced at high levels as an OC. As a HC he wasn't ready for the NFL and shouldn't have gone (but who would've turned that down at 33?). He was successful at UT and they loved him right up until his dream offer came and he left them. At USCw he had success (28-15), but not enough. He took over a team depleted with scholarship reductions. I'd say he did well given the situation.