The Los Angeles Rams underwent a complete culture change this offseason, overhauling not only the roster, but the coaching staff, too. Sean McVay has been the biggest difference-maker for the Rams, proving to be exactly the coach L.A. needed.

Aaron Donald held out to start the season, but McVay was one of the reasons he ended it just before Week 1. Shortly after McVay flew to Atlanta to meet with Donald’s representatives, the All-Pro returned to the team, which is no coincidence.

Donald praised McVay this week for holding everyone accountable.

“Leadership, and holding people accountable,” Donald said of McVay, via ESPN. “It’s the little things that help as far as discipline, and it shows on the field. Everybody from the top player to a practice squad player, everybody gets held accountable the same way.”

McVay was a bit of a surprise hire for the Rams, given his age. However, after seeing Jeff Fisher’s old-school, stubborn offense fail for the past few years, it was clear that the Rams needed a young, offensive-minded guy at the helm.

Through seven weeks, it’s worked beautifully with L.A. sitting atop the NFC West at 5-2. Donald knew things would be different before McVay was even hired, too.

“When I first got to sit down and talk to him. Before he was even hired, I got to sit one-on-one with him and had a real conversation with him and pick from his brain. So he had that confidence and pretty much told me what we were going to be and how it was going to go.”

McVay has certainly held several high-profile players accountable already this season. After a few bad games, Maurice Alexander was made a healthy scratch with rookie John Johnson replacing him. Shortly thereafter, Alexander was released.

Tavon Austin muffed four punts and struggled on special teams, so McVay pulled him and stuck Pharoh Cooper back there as a result. And those are just two examples.

McVay made it clear to Donald right away that players wouldn’t get away with poor play and there would be changes made if someone wasn’t meeting expectations.

“The way things are going to get done, how he wanted things to be run, how he’d hold people accountable,” Donald said of what McVay told him in their first conversation. “The main thing in this league is to win games and obviously we needed a coaching change around here.”

Whether the Rams can keep up their winning ways in the final nine weeks remains to be seen, but McVay is off to a terrific start.