TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida State introduced its own spin-off this offseason, with coach Jimbo Fisher serving as co-creator. Call it "Orange is the New Black Eye" -- at least inside the Seminoles' practice facility.

See, the color orange just doesn't mesh with Florida State. A player acting on his own free will wouldn't wear an indicator of the program's chief rivals. So Fisher deviously used it as ignominious badge all through January and February to goad his players. Through offseason drills, a handful of Florida State players were at times burdened with an orange jersey. They were the ones who loafed at the previous session, splashed with a citrusy stain in a building otherwise saturated in garnet. It served as a black eye for the rest of the team.

No, this isn't the brainchild of a Saturday of Netflix binge watching for Florida State's eighth-year coach. The latest in his opus of motivational tactics -- censoring a player with an identifying color of the abhorred Gators and Hurricanes -- began to coalesce a year earlier, when Fisher ripped a lackadaisical team on the first day of spring camp. Work ethic among his players was again questioned after an inglorious 3-2 start that knocked Florida State out of the ACC race on the first day of October.

On the Monday that Florida State opened its 2017 spring camp, Fisher stressed how this modified conditioning program will set the table for the upcoming 15 practices, culminating with the April 8 scrimmage. Monday officially began the Seminoles' quest to reclaim the conference, and Fisher believes an emphasis on accountability is an essential part of the equation. So leading up to the first practice he put his players in three different colored jerseys. Garnet was good. White was OK. Orange was behavior so "ridiculous" it deserved dishonor.

Orange is frowned upon at Florida State -- whether it's Miami's shade, Florida's, or Clemson's. Steve Mitchell/USA TODAY Sports

"There is a fine line between winning and losing, and it's always those inches, and that's what we've tried to emphasize," Fisher said. "We changed how we did [offseason drills] this year. We always told them how they did. We rated them every day.

"It wasn't in football positions or anything like that. It was all effort, but this is what we're teaching you to do. Whatever it is, do it. If you do that you will create a habit of going out on the football field."

Questions reside at several position groups, but roster turnover hasn't drained the Seminoles' talent. They haven't had a recruiting class outside the top four since 2013. Running back Dalvin Cook left but Deondre Francois returns at quarterback. DeMarcus Walker graduated on the defensive line but Josh Sweat is a former No. 1 recruit. Roderick Johnson bolted at tackle but safety Derwin James is rested.

It's dishonest to pin last season's 10-3 record after being ranked No. 2 in the preseason on effort. There were injuries. There was youth. But it was an ominous sign when Fisher decried the first spring practice of 2016 as the worst he’s ever seen at Florida State.

Any chance of that happening on opening day 2017?

"We're further along now than we were then by far," said Fisher, who estimates 85 to 90 percent of the team was in garnet at offseason's end.

That wasn't just Fisher striking an optimistic tone, which he had done during the same pre-camp setting last season. It was a daring confidence this team wouldn't fall victim to persistent lapses in effort.

After practice, Fisher said he liked the attitude and energy. He was pleasantly surprised at the pace Florida State moved through drills. Wasted practices will cost double this spring, as an opener against Alabama looms.

"I feel like he is getting on us more about accountability and trusting the man next to you because he feels like without accountability, we can't be the team we can be," James said. "He's stressing that more, and everybody is starting to get it."

If that happens, Florida State, which will garner first-place consideration from preseason pollsters, could take off in the fall. It's a more seasoned roster, one coming off an Orange Bowl win. The Seminoles were seventh a year ago in plays of at least 10 yards. From Week 6 on, only five Power-5 teams allowed fewer points per game against Power-5 opponents.

With Clemson (which also sports that pleasantly obnoxious orange) losing key contributors from last season's championship team and Louisville rebuilding its O-line and defense, the Seminoles will likely be voted as the ACC favorite for the first time since 2014.

There's risk when buying the pre-camp prattle, but the Seminoles say this is a unified group. Confidence persists that any motivational issues have been dealt with, and Fisher can illustrate it with the empirical evidence of a 7-1 close to last season.

And as for the number of orange jerseys on the eve of spring camp? Zero.