As chill in air grows, hot seats come out

• Tom Heckert and Pat Shurmur may not survive under new owner
• Panthers coach Ron Rivera has a 7-15 record and the general manager that hired him was fired
• A.J. Smith and Norv Turner have been the target of Chargers fans' venom for years

Firing season has started early in the NFL this year. Less than a week after Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid dismissed defensive coordinator Juan Castillo, the Carolina Panthers dumped general manager Marty Hurney on Monday.

And the season hasn't even hit halftime.

More changes are coming. That's a fact of life in the pressurized, win-now NFL, where patience seems to be more a liability than a virtue.

Reid is the NFL's longest-tenured coach with his current team, dating to 1999. Yet Reid, who has never won a Super Bowl, essentially was put on notice during preseason when Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie declared another non-playoff, 8-8 season won't cut it.

Showing Castillo the door after the team's late-game meltdown in a loss to the Detroit Lions — which hardly was all on the defense, as the offense went three-and-out on its final possession of regulation and only possession of overtime — smacks of desperation.

In any event, maybe the switch to Todd Bowles as defensive coordinator will help save Reid's job.

Maybe not.

Reid is hardly alone on the hot seat. Other coaches and GMs who may need to watch their backs — or get on a long winning streak:

Tom Heckert and Pat Shurmur, Cleveland Browns. There's a new sheriff in town. Jimmy Haslam bought the Browns and brought along former Eagles executive Joe Banner as CEO. Mike Holmgren's run as team president is over; he's merely staying on through the end of the year to help with the transition. As expected with a new owner, the entire operation is under evaluation. Heckert, the GM who has made some impressive draft picks, and second-year coach Shurmur could be caught by the backdraft of bad timing and a 1-6 record. The time to make a good impression is now.

Heckert and Shurmur worked with Banner during their years in Philadelphia, but it is not automatic that the crossed paths will be to their benefit.

A.J. Smith and Norv Turner, San Diego Chargers. Excluding tiebreakers, the Chargers (3-3) are tied for first place in the AFC West. Yet with the second-half collapse to the Denver Broncos — when San Diego blew a 24-0 halftime lead — the momentum (and tiebreaker) shifted to Peyton Manning's side. Unless the Chargers rebound to make the season a smashing success after back-to-back non-playoff campaigns, the pressure to dump Smith and Turner will intensify.

Smith, in his 10th season at the helm, fired Marty Schottenheimer after a 14-2 season in 2006 because Martyball always came up short in the playoffs. Now the same standard may apply. Chargers president Dean Spanos says he won't make any moves until after the season, which is his custom. But three weeks ago, the Chargers were off to their best start under Turner ... and now they are a floundering .500 team.

Scott Pioli and Romeo Crennel, Kansas City Chiefs. While Chiefs owner Clark Hunt has not sent any public signals suggesting his brain trust is in jeopardy, fans are getting restless amid a 1-5 start. There's a Save Our Chiefs site on Twitter with 70,000-plus followers. Will fourth-year GM Pioli get another offseason to draft the quarterback of the future? His 2009 trade for the quarterback of the future, Matt Cassel, has been a bust.

Crennel is just in his first full season, but his fate is likely tied to Pioli's.

Ron Rivera, Carolina Panthers. With a wide-open search for a general manager on the horizon, the second-year coach (1-5 this season, 7-15 overall) realizes he's wearing a target — which means assistants such as offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski and defensive coordinator Sean McDermott are also in the line of fire.

Key to survival is getting the most out of QB Cam Newton — which includes his ability to handle the spotlight and scrutiny.

Panthers owner Jerry Richardson has never had a coach for fewer than three seasons, but that's no reason for comfort in today's NFL.