TUCSON, ARIZ. ? Arizona coach John Mackovic was fired Sunday, five games into the third season of his tumultuous tenure in Tucson.

Defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz, a former Kansas University assistant, will take over as interim coach for the remainder of the season. A national search was planned to find a successor for next season.

Mackovic, who turns 60 Wednesday, survived a player mutiny last season after tearfully promising to do a better job of communicating. But this year’s team lost to LSU, Oregon and Purdue by a combined score of 166-30.

The Wildcats (1-4) lost 13-10 in overtime to No. 19 TCU Saturday. Pressure from boosters and unrest among the players led athletic director Jim Livengood to let the former Kansas City Chiefs and University of Texas coach go. Livengood met with Arizona’s players for about an hour Sunday morning, then spoke with Mackovic.

“I felt that at this particular point in time it warranted making a decision right now,” Livengood said.

Mackovic was 10-18 at Arizona. The Wildcats have lost 12 consecutive Pac-10 home games. Mackovic signed a five-year, $4 million contract in December 2000, and the buyout of his deal will cost $909,000.

Mackovic hired Hankwitz just before the start of spring practice. Hankwitz had been defensive coordinator at Texas A&M for the previous six seasons. He was defensive coordinator for Colorado from 1988 to 1994 and at Kansas in 1995-96. Hankwitz will appear at a news conference today.