MOBILE, Ala. -- Late Tuesday night, Monte Kiffin and Chip Kelly shared a beer and some conversation.

Before Kiffin, the Dallas Cowboys' newly-hired defensive coordinator, left for the night, he hugged Kelly, the new coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Kiffin said he has a tremendous amount of respect for Kelly. But when the men were coaching in college, it was Kelly's Oregon's Ducks that rolled up 730 offensive yards in a 62-51 victory in November over Kiffin, then the defensive coordinator for USC.

With the Cowboys, Kiffin will now have to face Kelly's Eagles twice in the regular season. But that isn't his only challenge in the NFC East.

Kiffin has to deal with Eli Manning and the New York Giants, and how could we forget about Robert Griffin III and the Washington Redskins?

Were the moves the Cowboys made this offseason -- switching from a 3-4 scheme to a 4-3 -- specifically designed to stop division foes?

"Well, when you’ve been coaching as long as he has, he has experience in every area, without being trite," Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said. "Really, we all know what he has spent years coaching against option-type football, and it’s just the nature of things when he coached at Nebraska, Arkansas and throughout. And I know obviously he’s dealt first-hand competitively when he was at Southern Cal with where Chip Kelly is."