Cooking school brings out Wolverines’ competitive juices

Rome, Italy -- From paintball on Tuesday to a cooking class on Wednesday night, the competitiveness seemed to go up a notch as the Michigan team learned to make a number of Italian dishes, including, no surprise, pizza.

Defensive coordinator Don Brown demanded efficiency from his team, and well before the conclusion of the Cordon Bleu “Sculoa di Arte Culinaria” at Il Pozza, located in southwest Rome, Brown had declared his team the champions.

Meanwhile, at the cooking station nearby, offensive coordinator Tim Drevno proudly shared the fabulous pizza his team made and said he will open “Big D’s Pizzeria” when he gets back.

And then there was Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, whose lone skill in the kitchen is making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He worked a bit with some pizza dough before moving along. Jack Harbaugh, his father, gleefully admitted he passed along the non-cooking gene to his son.

Here are some sights and sounds from Michigan’s cooking class Wednesday night: