Wide receivers coach Jason Phillips confirmed to PonyFans.com that he will be back at SMU in 2014 (photo by SMU athletics).

• The future of wide receivers coach Jason Phillips is not in doubt, if it ever was. After being told last week by two people (not Phillips or any member of the coaching staff) that he would return, PonyFans.com tracked him down in person this week, and asked if there was anything to the rumors that he was pursuing another job.

His response: “I’m not going anywhere. I’ll definitely be back. I’m fully committed to Coach (June) Jones and to SMU, and my only desire is to be here at SMU. It’s a great school, we have a great staff, and we’re looking forward to spring ball and excited about next season.”

• Running back Traylon Shead has left SMU in hopes of pursuing a professional career. The former Texas Longhorn, who arrived at SMU after a stint at Navarro, where he earned honorable mention JC All-America honors. In his lone season with SMU, Shead played in and started four games, rushing 51 times for 197 yards and three touchdowns. He also caught four passes out of the backfield for 26 yards.

• Remember last year, when SMU signed offensive lineman Jerry Saena, and many assumed that he would be able to add considerable weight? Those assumptions were correct. Listed at 270 on Signing Day last year, he said he weighed about 260 when he enrolled last summer. As of Monday, he said he now weighs 330 pounds, and it looks like good weight. When a teammate teasingly suggested that he needed to lose weight to be quick enough to play, Saena pointed out that he has lowered his body fat while getting bigger and stronger. When asked how big he wants to get, Saena smiled and said he didn’t have a target weight in mind, saying only that he wants to get “as big and strong and quick as possible.”

• Rehab can be kind of humbling. Just ask linebacker Rishaad Wimbley, whose 2013 season ended early because of surgery he underwent in November to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder. Wimbley, who arrived at SMU as a nose tackle who could bench press well over 400 pounds, said Monday he was on the mend, and that he was excited that he now did eight repetitions on the bench press … with 135 pounds. He said, however, that he is pain-free and is feeling stronger every day.

• Safety Hayden Greenbauer, whose season ended Oct. 19 because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) he suffered against Memphis, is working his way back. Without crutches or a knee brace, Greenbauer is not doing the same offseason conditioning work his teammates are doing, saying he is probably “a month and a half” away from running. But he said his knee is mostly pain-free, and that thanks to work on the elliptical machine and light resistance training, the joint is getting stronger. He said he didn’t know if his knee will recover quickly enough to allow him to take part in spring workouts, but whether it does or not, he will be held out as a precaution.