I agree Lovie Smith would be a great choice, but even though he has a 12-4 record it mostly came at the hands of his defense, which has been perennially good (didn't just come around this year). Also his offense did still stink this season showing some good spots. Yes, he deserves credit for what he's done but Saban has made an aging defense and the younger guys of the defense are not the best in the world and has got them playing pretty good, and he took a awful offense and made it decent at the end of the year. Saban as a first year coach did great, and this team was a laughing stock and now they are respectable again. I had questions about Saban earlier in the season, but I now feel like a fool. So no I don't believe Saban will win coach of the year, but he is definitely worthy.
Also I just wanna say that I hope the Dolphins aren't the 2004 Buffalo Bills, finishing hot and the next season falling apart, because don't forget Mike Mularkey was a rookie head coach last year too. So let's not proclaim the Dolphins as a dominating team for next year quite yet, although they do have the potential.