Sonny Travis was named the head coach of the Emory men's soccer program in July of 2007.

During his six seasons at Emory, Travis led the Eagles to a 79-27-7 record, including four trips to the NCAA Tournament and back-to-back 16-win seasons for the first time in school history in 2007 and 2008.  On September 18, 2010, he won his 50th game with the Eagles, reaching the mark in just 62 games, the fastest by any coach in the program's history.

In 2012, Travis guided the Eagles to a share of the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship, marking his second conference title with the team, and the program's seven overall.  Emory qualified for the NCAA Tournament and claimed a 4-1 win over Roanoke College in the first round, giving the program its first postseason win since 1988 and just the second overall in the team's history.  The Eagles advanced to the second round, where they were defeated by the eventual National Champions, ending the year with a record of 11-7-2.

Travis led the Eagles to a 14-3-2 record and a berth into the NCAA Tournament in 2010, as Emory finished the year ranked 18th in Division III.  In 2008, he coached the Eagles to their first UAA Championship since the 1998 season, as Emory advanced to the Round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament, finishing the campaign with a 16-2-1 overall record.  In 2007, Travis helped the Eagles to a 16-3-0 record, as his squad advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

He won the 300th match of his career during the Eagles' 4-0 win over Heidelberg College (Ohio), on September 15, 2007, becoming the 27th Division III head coach to do so.  The win came at the Adidas Invitational, hosted by Center College (Ky.), where Travis began his coaching career.

In 27 years of coaching at the Division III level, Travis has a career ledger of 373-119-44.  Entering the 2012 season, his .742 career winning percentage ranked him 36th among NCAA all-Division coaches all-time, and 16th among Division III coaches all-time. His 362 victories entering 2012 were the 19th-most in Division III history, and 14th among active Division III coaches.

Travis came to the Eagles' program after an extremely successful 18-year stint with the Virginia Wesleyan program. During his tenure, he established himself as the school's all-time winningest coach with a record of 270-74-31. He directed Virginia Wesleyan to 13 NCAA appearances, including four this decade (2000, 2003, 2005, 2006), and eight Old Dominion Athletic Conference championships. He had three of his squads advance to the NCAA Tournament's Final 16. He had been honored as the "Coach of the Year" on 15 occasions including five ODAC Conference selections.  For his work at Virginia Wesleyan, he was named to the school's Athletic Hall of Fame as part of their fifth class in 2013.  Travis was the head men's soccer coach at Virginia Wesleyan since 1989 and school's athletic director since 1999 before leaving for Emory. His career also includes a three-year stay at Centre College (1986-89).

Travis holds a Class "A" license with the United States Soccer Federation as well as an NSCAA Premier Diploma.  He serves as a state or district Olympic Development Program coach in three states and is presently on the Virginia Coaching Education Staff for licensing coaches at the USSF "D" and National "C" courses conducted in Virginia.

Travis played collegiately at Slippery Rock University where he earned his bachelor's degree in physical education and health in 1977.  He obtained his master's degree in physical education/sports administration concentration from the University of North Carolina in 1980.

Updated December 2012