John L. Smith is excited, and not just because he's looking forward to the start of spring practice.

The Spartans' head football coach will get the opportunity to ascend 19,341 feet to the top of Africa's tallest mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

"To be on Mount Kilimanjaro, watching the sun come up while sitting on a glacier, it's a moment to take your breath away," he said. "I'm really looking forward to it."

Smith will host an 11-day trip to Kenya and Tanzania this summer. The adventure is sponsored by the MSU Alumni Association and will take place July 8-18.

A total of 18 people, including Smith and his family, will have the opportunity to see the yearly Serengeti migration. More than a million wildebeests migrate, and hundreds of thousands of zebras and Thomson's gazelles join in.

Smith planned on embarking on the safari while he was still head coach at Louisville.

After coming to MSU, Smith approached Alumni Association executive director Keith Williams about his intentions.

"I said, 'I'm going, and if you'd like to incorporate others as well, it would be fun,'" Smith said.

A self-proclaimed adventure seeker, Smith is an avid golfer and skier, has been skydiving and often can be found running the steps at Spartan Stadium.

In July 2001, he participated in the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, and said that the next adventure on his list is to ski the Alps.

Despite the magnitude of his safari adventure, Smith remains humble about it.

"It's just another moment you can cross off the list of things to do before leaving the Earth," he said.