New allegations centered on University of Miami football coach Al Golden and his staff — reported Friday by Yahoo! Sports — contend that Golden, according to an unnamed source, “had direct knowledge” of former UM equipment manager Sean “Pee Wee” Allen’s “improper involvement with Miami recruits,” theYahoo! report said.

The Yahoo! report cites as its source “a former Hurricanes athletic department staffer,” as well as “federal testimony given by Allen” in imprisoned former UM booster Nevin Shapiro’s bankruptcy case. It says that Allen, who already was embroiled in the NCAA’s ongoing investigation of UM, “continued improper contact with Miami recruits, which allegedly lasted through his final days working for the Hurricanes in the summer of 2011.”

This is the first time Golden, who was hired in December 2010, has been mentioned in connection to any NCAA wrongdoings. And though the Yahoo! report cites the unnamed former UM staffer as pointing to Golden having “direct knowledge” of Allen’s improprieties, it does not specifically name Golden as overseeing the alleged improper phone calls or recruiting incidents.

“I have been a college football coach for more than 18 years and I am proud of — and I stand by — my record of compliance over that span,” said Golden in a written statement. “As my colleagues and players on all of my teams can attest, I believe strongly in doing things the right way with the best of intentions. The inferences and suggestions in the Yahoo! Sports story that my conduct was anything but ethical are simply false. I, like all of us at UM, have cooperated fully with the joint NCAA-UM inquiry and will continue to do so, so that our program and our University can move forward. Because the process is on-going, I am unable to address any specifics or answer questions on the matter.”

Golden will speak

Golden, a disciplinarian who has continually said the program is heading in the right direction, is scheduled to speak to reporters Monday at the Atlantic Coast Conference football kickoff in Greensboro, N.C. — an event for national media.

The latest Yahoo! story said Allen was used by “at least two” members of Golden’s staff, including former receivers coach Aubrey Hill (now at Florida) and current linebackers coach Micheal Barrow, to help recruit players — an NCAA violation because Allen was not allowed to recruit under NCAA bylaws.

The Hurricanes have been the subject of a lengthy NCAA investigation that was made public after Yahoo! Sports’ original story last August about Shapiro, now serving a 20-year prison sentence for a $930 million Ponzi scheme, and how he provided “thousands of impermissible benefits” to at least 72 UM athletes from 2002 through 2010.

The newest report cites an unnamed UM former “staffer” saying “Allen was used specifically by members of Golden’s staff as an ‘off-the-books’ recruiter,” and that Allen “kept tabs on Miami-area kids, including making calls about their recruitment, and on some occasions, supplying improper transportation to and from campus that aided Miami in its efforts to gain a commitment from some prospects.”

The report goes on to cite the unnamed source as saying Allen “was directed to call those kids and would have never done it without the coaches pushing it.”